Mill Neck Early Childhood Center will close in August

Parents of Mill Neck Early Childhood Center students got a heartbreaking, but not unexpected, letter on May 5 informing them that the school would be closing. The letter came tucked away in students’ backpacks. It said that “despite our best efforts,” the school would close Aug. 12.

Calls to the school seeking comment had not been returned at press time.

In January, the organization’s CEO, Michael Killian released a statement saying the school was in danger of closing due to a “multi-million-dollar loss.” He cited teachers’ salaries as the main reason for the deficit, saying that staff compensation is “substantially above that of comparable schools and the significant primary reason for the program’s ongoing financial problems.”

Parents, teachers and staff held a rally in February to protest the impending shutdown, which was also attended by State Assemblyman Charles Lavine. “This school offers a public service that the community can’t do without,” Lavine said at the time.

But neither the rally nor the pay cut the teachers’ union offered Killian persuaded him to allow the school to continue to operate. Parents have found it difficult to determine what the financial issues have been because the school, a nonprofit, has not submitted required annual paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service since 2014, according to CitizenAudit.org.

“I think it was the plan all along,” said ECC parent Joe Lyons. “There’s obviously an agenda. I just wish I knew what it was.”

Lyons added that he and many other parents felt “steamrolled” by Killian, who they contended did not respond to any of their concerns. “Why wouldn’t they accept the salary decrease?” Lyons wondered. “These teachers don’t make much money to begin with. It was a huge sacrifice on their part.”

Killian’s letter to parents stated that “after numerous written and personal appeals to the state, state legislators and in spite of a union concession, we have determined the financial viability of this program is not sustainable.”

To make matters worse, although parents did not receive the letter until late last Friday afternoon, many already knew the school was closing. A local media outlet that had received the information earlier that morning released it. But Lyons wasn’t surprised, saying the school’s method of communication about the issue was just par for the course.

In the meantime, parents have had to scramble to find schools for their children, which has been difficult. Programs like ECC are few and far between in Nassau County. Lyons said he would have to drive his daughter 45 minutes each way to her new school in September.

Even though the school’s decision is final, Lyons said that parents would continue to look into what happened, and focus on the center’s finances.