Long Island day care under fire for abruptly suspending service to dozens of families
MANHASSET, N.Y. -- A Long Island day care center is under fire for pushing out dozens of families, leaving them scrambling for child care on short notice.
CBS New York spoke with impacted parents in Manhasset.
"I don't think 'betrayal' is a strong enough word. Grief, confusion, frustration," Yoojin Chung said.
That's how Chung has been feeling since she found out her son, who has special needs, lost his spot at Manhasset KinderCare, the day care he has been attending for months.
"The fact that they did this to 40 children out of 110, that feels downright cruel and irresponsible as child care providers," Chung said.
She said the parents got a phone call and an email from KinderCare on Thursday afternoon, which reads, "As of Monday, Feb. 5, we won't be able to care for your child."
The day care is blaming staffing shortages.
"We literally got one-and-a-half day notice and their communication [could] have been better. They could have talked to us first. They could've literally asked, 'We are really short on staff. Could anyone volunteer to not come for like two days or three days?'" parent Sooyeon Kim said.
The parents said they also just paid last week.
"I'm sure they kind of knew this was coming because so many teachers have quit recently," Chung said.
KinderCare explained its decision in the following statement:
"Staffing shortages are an unfortunate reality for many early childhood education programs around the country. Our Manhasset KinderCare is no exception. Unfortunately, last week we learned that a few of our teachers have extenuating circumstances that require them to be out of the center for a prolonged period of time in order to tend to personal matters, including illness and some family emergencies. After looking at our teacher and student schedules we realized that beginning February 5 we would not have the number of teachers and staff necessary to maintain state-mandated teacher to student ratios.
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. That is why we had to make the difficult decision to temporarily reduce the number of children we care for at our Manhasset center. Temporarily reducing our enrollment ensures we have enough teachers on hand on any given day to effectively and safely staff our other classrooms.
"We're actively working to recruit and train additional teachers. We hope that in the near future we're able to welcome the families who received this difficult news back to our center."
State records from November indicate the location violated staffing regulations, which was later corrected.
"I feel like the staffing accrual and to retain staffing here is an issue and that's why staffing has been such a difficult thing to keep and to have consistent staff members care for our children, too," parent Shirley Pang said.
The state Office of Children and Family Services said it has been taking bold action to address the child care workforce shortage, including a $1.4 billion investment from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Meanwhile, parents that spoke to CBS New York said they work full time and time is of the essence.
"It's my parental instinct and the urgent need to find something for my child," Chung said.
Late Monday night, parents received an email from KinderCare saying that it's working on hiring new teachers and families are welcome back on Feb. 26.
But from what CBS New York was told, after this, not all plan on returning.
KinderCare did not return our inquiry about whether or not parents will be refunded for the latest payment.