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The FUN Academy at the Ashler Manor Complex has decided to close its doors.
The Academy, which began in 2015 at Resurrection Church in Muncy before moving to its current location in 2017, will be ceasing business in 45 days on Sept. 29, according to Ron Simon, CEO of Families United Network Inc. and director of FUN Academy.
"We came to the decision we were going to close. I met with all our staff in person [this week]. After our staff was informed that we'll be closing … I then emailed all our parents. Then at 6 this morning (Thursday) I was at the facility for opening and I met with every parent as they came through the doors to make sure they got the email and to answer questions," Simon said.
The daycare had coordinated their decision with the Department of Human Services which regulates childcare facilities.
"We went over the plan in detail with them and they were in agreement they felt 30 days was not enough notice to families. They felt 60 was too long because you still have to maintain your staffing and meet all the regulations," he said.
"That's how we came to the 45 days, to give people enough time to find another placement but also to be able to ensure that we can maintain our staffing and safety," he added.
Although he would not speak directly to the reasons for FUN Academy closing, Simon did acknowledge that many facilities in the business are struggling with staffing issues.
"Childcare is not unique to the staffing crisis that has happened in every industry. It's very hard to hire right now. Childcare creates an additional challenge because it's probably one of the most important jobs and it takes a while to hire somebody.
"You have to go through all the background checks and regulatory standards, standards to make sure that they're approved to work. If somebody gives a two week notice you cannot hire within two weeks, because it takes longer," Simon said.
One of the regulations from DHS is the staff to child ratio needed to maintain safety. Simon stressed that Fun Academy was not closing because of a safety incident.
"Even though there's a lot of layers to the decision … no child was put at harm at any point. There is not one critical incident that happened that caused us to close," he said.
"I know that often happens with daycare … I'm confident that the safety of the children was never compromised.There has not been any critical incident that led to this decision," he stressed.
With the start of the new school year coming as early as next week, parents will be needing to have childcare in place and have it quickly.
"That's why we felt it was important to give the 45 days. I think most of our parents are very familiar with the other facilities in our area, but I did agree after talking to individuals this morning that I will supply them with a list of all the other facilities," Simon said.
He has been in contact with other daycares and although they are not interested in taking over Fun Academy's services at the Ashler Manor site, they said that they would be willing to take the children into their program. He also offered references for parents who are seeking to move their children to another daycare.
"I told them about individuals who will give references about you know, their child being a very well behaved child and that they paid their fees on time," he explained.
"We also have a lot of other facilities interested in hiring our staff and we'll reward our staff for staying till the end. We're offering an incentive pay if they stay until the end, because I do want to provide the care until Sept. 29," he said.
"A few of them have even said that they'll do job fairs for our staff and will welcome our staff with open arms because I think part of the problem that's hitting other facilities is that they have capacity in their building and open slots, but they can't fill those slots because they don't have the staff. So if anything, our staff becoming available could be an asset to the other facilities to be able to take those additional children," he said.