MIDDLETOWN- Families of children attending the Educational Learning Experience special education preschools in Middletown and New Windsor are uneasy about the future of their school following the issuance of a 90-day notice of closure provided by the organization operating the preschool, the ARC of the Greater Hudson Valley to the State Education Department (SED). The ARC says they are closing the school due to staffing shortages.
In a notice to parents issued on March 9th, the ARC pledged to work with SED officials to help impacted children find replacement programs following the decision to close their own. In the notice, the school’s Assistant Executive Director Beth Laub said that school officials are working to ensure the program continues under a new provider as soon as possible and that there is a continuation of services to students through the transition. To date, no new operator of the school has been named.
The notice described the decision to close the program as a difficult one and pointed to a lack of staff as the primary reason to close the school. No school officials were available to discuss the details of the notice or pending closure on Friday following calls to both the Middletown and New Windsor locations.
It is unknown how many children are impacted by the program’s looming closure, but the announcement marks the second closure of a large preschool program in the region in as many months. In February Sullivan Head Start abruptly closed, leaving 350 children and their families without services as well as 83 full-time and 11 part-time workers without jobs.
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