Mesa Community College’s on-campus preschool to close; families in limbo
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — After 50 years, the Mesa Community College Children’s Center is shutting its doors for good next month.
Now, the 23 families that currently send their kids there are searching for somewhere else to go. Janet Grom, a busy mom of two, is one of those impacted.
She works part-time and is a full-time student at MCC. Grom says a big reason she chose to earn her nursing degree at MCC is because the school offers a preschool program.
“It’s unique to Mesa. I know none of the other community colleges have that program,” said Grom.
Every weekday, she drops off her 3-year-old on her way to class.
“Having a safe place for my son to go to while I’m at school is really important, and so knowing that he’s on campus with me is pretty cool,” she said. “It’s significantly less. We were paying about $1,500 for a daycare, and now we pay less than half of that.”
But starting May 9, the center will close. Grom just got notice this week.
“Totally out of nowhere,” said Grom. “I was devastated.”
This all comes down to money. MCC officials say the center can’t continue operating at a financial loss and offered families a list of other childcare providers in the area.
“I know that just talking with the teachers and staff, they said that the center doesn’t make money, and it never has for 40 years. But the school makes money indirectly because I’m able to be a student there then and so they get money from me that way,” said Grom.
Grom doesn’t know what her family will do.
“It’s a stressful time. It’s an emotional time because we’ve built connections with the teachers and the staff at that school and it also makes me sad that my son is gonna have to have another transition, another change,” she said.
Grom worries it will be challenging to find a new childcare center she can trust and one that has enough space. She says getting into a preschool can be tricky at the last minute because spots fill up fast.
Full statement from Mesa Community College:
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