Parents Left In The Lurch After Closure Of Learning Center
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - Parents of several students who attended a tutoring center in Littleton that closed without warning this week told CBS4 they are upset by how the situation was handled.
A makeshift "Closed" sign with a note that said the business had filed for bankruptcy was placed on the door of the Sylvan Learning Center on South Kipling Parkway in Littleton on Wednesday.
Many parents paid thousands of dollars up front to the center, and some wrote checks as recently as last week, when they say there was no indication the franchise had problems.
"To think that they are taking people's money as recently as the last few weeks, knowing full well that they are in this situation, is a shame," said Kim Adams, a grandparent of a student who went to the center for tutoring.
Adams told CBS4 gathering the funds for her grandson to be able to get the tutoring was not an easy task. That child still had $2,000 worth of sessions to go.
"We struggled to come up with this money to help him, and it was a very difficult decision because we had to sacrifice in some areas to do this," she said.
Pamela Lee told CBS4 she just recently signed up her son at Sylvan and met with the franchise owner.
"At first I was shocked," she said. "It was just there last Thursday, so I was taken back and then I was angry. ... I was angry, because a week and a half ago, I sat there with this woman and there was no inclination that their franchise was in any way in trouble."
Lee spent $440 for eight hours' worth of tutoring.
Late Wednesday the franchise owners told CBS4 they were hit hard by the recession in 2008 and used their retirement money to keep things running. They say they continued to struggle and eventually fell behind on their financial obligations to Sylvan. On Friday they were told to pay the full balance they owed or they would lose their license. They filed for bankruptcy the same day -- after more than 20 years in business.
Marilyn Holm, owner of a Sylvan franchise at a different location, said she's going to step in and try to help the families affected by the closure of the center.
"We will sit down and have a conversation with each family to see how we can continue," Holm said.
Holm said the economy has taken its toll, forcing franchise owners to find different ways to adapt, or go out of business.
"We've got to be very, very smart about how we spend our money, and we have to watch our labor," she said. "We've had to cut back on a number of employees that we have and we've done everything necessary, proactively."
