Court docs: Everett Community College decided on ELC closure in March

EVERETT — Administrative staff at Everett Community College knew in March they were going to close the college’s Early Learning Center, court documents revealed this week, possibly two months before they notified parents and staff.

College administration didn’t tell parents, teachers or the Early Learning Center’s director they would close the center until May 7, giving about two months notice to parents who need new child care providers and educators who need new jobs. The center will close July 1.

In a declaration filed Monday, Josh Ernst, vice president of human resources at the college, wrote that the college’s human resources department had begun making formal preparations to close the Early Learning Center in March.

“At that time, the President, in consultation with members of the College’s executive leadership team, had made the decision to close the ELC,” Ernst wrote.

Everett Community College representatives did not respond to emails seeking comment.

The college gave nearly twice as much notice as was required under a collective bargaining agreement with the workers, which requires 30 days notice before a layoff action, Ernst’s declaration reads. But that time frame has still left some families scrambling to find child care, said Rachelle Refling, the director of the Early Learning Center.

“They’re not going to just be able to find care so easily,” Refling said in an interview Wednesday. “And it’s a big deal to trust the people who are going to watch your kids. You want to take the time to meet them and tour the facility, and when you’re scrambling, you might not get that opportunity.”

The Early Learning Center at Everett Community College is regarded as one of the top early education facilities in the state. But operating it is too costly, college staff have previously said, as federal and state grants have been cut while other local contributions are set to lapse in the coming years. The college expects the center would run at a $300,000 deficit in the next fiscal year if it stayed open.

Ernst’s declaration was filed as part of a response to a lawsuit filed by Samantha Sommerman on June 5 on behalf of a parent at the Early Learning Center, which alleged the board and administrative staff at the college violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act when the administration closed the center without a board vote or opportunity for public comment.

The lawsuit argued that public agencies like Everett Community College must provide advance notice and opportunity for public comment before taking major actions like closing the Early Learning Center.

In a response filed for the college Monday, an assistant attorney general said the board of trustees had properly delegated powers to the college’s president regarding administrative action in accordance with state law. Therefore, closing the center would not have required a board meeting, the response argues.

In 2023, the board of trustees passed a resolution delegating broad power to the college’s president, Chemene Crawford, over administrative functions of the college. Among other actions, it gives the president the ability to terminate classified and exempt employees.

State law allows higher education boards to delegate to the president “any of the powers and duties vested or imposed upon such governing board by law,” the law reads.

In its response, the college also maintained it’s been consistent in its actions, as it argued the board also didn’t take action when the Early Learning Center was set to close in 2021. The chair of the college’s board, Jerry Martin, wrote in an declaration that the board took no action in regards to the decision to close the Early Learning Center or to rescind that decision in 2021. Meeting minutes show the board of trustees didn’t vote on the possible 2021 closure.

In a response to the college, Sommerman argued the president and an executive leadership team acted as a committee when it exercised the powers granted by the board, making them subject to public meetings law.

A hearing on the case is scheduled for June 25.

Emails obtained by Sommerman via a public disclosure request also showed college administrative staff had been preparing for the closure before they publicly announced it.

On April 22, college staff presented information on the center’s financial difficulties to the board. After the meeting ended, Crawford told Cathy Leaker, the college’s vice president of instruction, to create a draft of talking points regarding the Early Learning Center decision, according to an internal email Leaker sent to Crawford on April 23.

By April 24, Ernst had prepared a draft notice to inform the labor union representing the center’s employees “when the time is appropriate,” he wrote in an internal email. On April 25, he wrote that he would meet with Refling to go over the information from the April 22 presentation, but would not give her advance notice of the closure.

“There’s some concern about her discretion,” Ernst wrote in an internal email.

After the meeting with administrative staff on April 25, Refling said she still did not know the center was going to close, even though staff had decided to shutter it. Refling said if she was made aware of the closure, she would have recommended it occur at the end of the summer quarter, allowing more time for families to find care.

She also said the reference to her discretion was hurtful.

“It hurt. It hurt my feelings because I have more integrity than that,” Refling said. “There was some question in there about my discretion, but I would have never told something that someone told me not to tell.”

After the center closes, Everett Community College plans to work with the state Department of Enterprise Services to lease the space to a private child care provider.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.