PCDC Slated to be Eliminated - Parents ask for a Chance to Save Program

Parents (from left) Mel Hite, Reiner Bohlen, Melissa Bledsoe,
and Cary Carson-Rieke, go over their notes before a meeting
with LB President Hamann.

Last week LBCC President Greg Hamann announced that more faculty and staff positions are being cut to help balance the college’s budget.

In that process, the Periwinkle Child Development Center (PCDC) is also being eliminated. When LBCC student Mel Hite learned of the decision to close PCDC, she wrote a letter to the mayor of Albany about her concerns.

Hite and a handful of other students and community members who use the PCDC for child care are on a mission to reverse the decision to discontinue the program.

“We were under the impression that a teacher might get cut. We didn’t think the program was going to be cut.” None of the current faculty and staff will remain after the spring term.

As it stands, the school is in talks with HeadStart to take over child care. Families will need to qualify for HeadStart in order to use the program. Education students, who use PCDC as their practicum, may also need to go off-campus to fulfill the requirement, after the closure.

Caila Williams, a dual-enrolled student who is in her last term at LBCC said, “This (PCDC) is the only reason I’ve been able to come to school.

If I don’t find affordable quality child care, I’m in trouble.” She submitted a letter to the Democrat-Herald about the way the program has benefited her family.

It isn’t only about LBCC students - it’s also about their children.

“I don’t want them having to struggle because I can’t get an education in order to get a better job,” said Hanna Smith. She has two children attending PCDC and is two terms away from

finishing her AAOT degree. After graduation she hopes to go into diagnostic imaging.

While a majority of the participants are students, community members who are not LBCC students may also enroll their children at PCDC.

Reiner Bohlen, a local business owner who uses the co-op for child care, said one of the things he and his wife enjoy about the program is that it is not just daycare, it’s a preschool.

Bohlen said, “It is hard to imagine people who are more invested in child care than parents and education students.”

Hite, Bohlen, and fellow PCDC co-op members Melissa Bledsoe, and Cary Carson-Rieke, met with Hamann Monday afternoon.

“We just want a chance,” Hite said.

In the hour-long meeting, the group asked what they could do at this point to keep PCDC open. Bohlen asked Hamann for specifics about the “hurdles” they need to overcome and for a deadline.

Hamann, who said he was “never absolutely closed to anything,” agreed to get back to the group with the answers to their questions by the end of the week.

At Hite’s request, Hamann will be visiting the PCDC Thursday morning.

Friends of Periwinkle Child Development Center
Follow the Friends of PCDC on facebook
Some members of the co-op have started a petition to keep PCDC open