EVERETT — The Everett Community College Board of Trustees voted Thursday to close the college’s Early Learning Center after a court order forced the board to bring the issue to a public vote.
The board announced the special meeting Wednesday afternoon after a Snohomish County judge ruled earlier that day the college had violated state public meetings law when it decided to close the center without a board vote or opportunity for public comment.
Student Azhura Brown, 5, hugs teacher Anzhelika Huliar on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The judge’s decision meant the center must remain open until the college’s Board of Trustees complied with the Open Public Meetings Act in regards to closing the educational facility by holding a board vote with opportunity for public comment. The college scheduled that vote for the following day.
Parents, educators and local elected officials spoke out against the closure for more than an hour on Thursday. Some in the crowd of attendees shouted “shame” after the board voted.
“This is a family, this is our home, and we’re being evicted,” said Laura Matthews, a teacher at the school. “That’s what it feels like.”
Preschool teacher Michelle Depew walks hand in hand with former Early Learning Center students Lareen Almadjidi, 7, left, and Qamar Almadjidi, 9, right, as they explore their old classroom on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Aleena Richie, a parent who has two children who attend the center and had planned to work there as she sought experience in the field of early childhood education, said parents were “heartbroken.”
“It feels like the rug’s been slipped out from under us,” Richie said.
Administrative staff at the college initially decided in March it would close the Early Learning Center, an early childhood education facility serving 71 children that is recognized as a top facility in the state.
Staff at the college said grant funds helping pay for the center were set to lapse in the coming months, and it would operate with a $300,000 deficit by the end of the next fiscal year. Without significant new funding, the college would need to close the facility, staff previously said.
Teacher Pattie Fritts receives a hug from Early Learning Center students parent Stephanie Henifin on the last day of school on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
“In these tight financial times that Everett Community College is facing, as are most of the other community and technical colleges in the state, we do have to make hard decisions that maximize our limited financial resources to ensure we continue our statutory mission,” Josh Ernst, the Vice President of Human Resources at the college, said Thursday.
The college didn’t inform staff, parents or the center’s director of the closure until May 7. Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn and Everett council member Mary Fosse both said they were unaware of the closure until it became public in May.
The center is set to close on Tuesday.
Early Learning Center teachers and staff become emotional as people thank them for their time and dedication on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Adminsitrative staff made the initial decision to close the center, but board members backed the move in May citing the center’s budget challenges. On Thursday, the board said deciding to close the center was a difficult decision that they had given weight to.
“This is not a cavalier decision, one way or the other,” board president Jerry Martin said. “This was well thought out and well discussed.”
A sign announcing the last day of school sits in the hallway as people pack up on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Three Everett City Council members, two Snohomish County Council members and eight Washington legislators signed a letter recognizing the services the Early Learning Center provides. It asked the college to allow the center’s director, Rachelle Refling, to speak at a board meeting and give a detailed account of the center’s budget, as well as any changes or savings that could keep the school open.
The letter also asked to keep the center open through the summer and hire a business consultant to analyse the college’s business model. County dollars had been set aside for the college to do so, but it was unable to find a consultant to do the work, college staff previously said. The letter also said if the center was closed, the subcontractor should offer a living wage and union positions for teachers and staff.
Aleena Richie talks with her daughter A’Mylah, 4, before she addresses the Everett Community College Board during a meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Wednesday’s ruling in court came after a parent at the Early Learning Center, Samantha Sommerman, filed a lawsuit against the college on behalf of Richie alleging the college’s Board of Trustees violated public meetings law. It argued that the college must provide notice and allow for public comment when taking significant actions like closing the Early Learning Center.
An assistant district attorney representing the college, Usama Ahmed, argued that the board had properly delegated authority to the president to undertake administrative actions. State law allows boards of higher education to delegate the powers and duties of the board to the president. The board granted broad authority to the college’s president to perform administrative matters in 2023.
Everett Community College Board Chair Jerry Martin speaks during a board meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The judge presiding over the case, Patrick Moriarty, said the decision to close the center was subject to public meetings law because the duties delegated to the president for a decision as meaningful as the closure should include public input and notice.
“To simply say that the Board of Trustees can delegate such a significant, impactful decision to the president and circumvent the Open Public Meetings Act, does not sit well with this court,” Judge Moriarty said.
Away from the board rooms and courtrooms, educators, family members and local elected officials gathered at the Early Learning Center on Wednesday, the last scheduled day of school before its closure.
“We are going to make as much noise as we did in 2022 and get support to keep this open,” Dunn said Wednesday. “And if not, then we’re going to say it needs to be high-wage, high-skilled union jobs, and the same student-teacher ratios, the same type of early learning, not just child care.”
People hold up signs in protest while Everett Community College’s Vice President of Human Resources Josh Ernst speaks on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Staff shared emotional goodbyes with one another as former students came to visit. Fatou Dramme-Darboe, a teacher at the center, spent a few minutes stacking up small chairs in her preschool classroom as she cleaned it for the last time.
She spent 17 years teaching at the Early Learning Center. After it closes next week, she will not receive any severance pay, she said.
“Even if they paid me, I don’t want anything to do with the new place that’s coming in because we worked hard to get where we are,” Drammeh-Darboe said. “I don’t think any of us want anything to do with what they’re going to bring in here. They can do whatever they want. They’re not in the right, but how can we fight it?”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
Laura Matthews, a former Early Learning Center teacher, speaks to the Everett Community College Board during a meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
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