A private school for special needs children might close down later this year and the parents of the kids attending classes there are worried over the possible future of the school. They noted they knew about the news only through Facebook.
The school in Long Island was identified as Mill Neck Manor Early Childhood Center. A staff member from the school allegedly told the media that officials announced during a meeting last week that they might be closing their doors by June 2017. The president and the CEO of the school, Michael Killian, issued a statement later saying there was no decision yet regarding the operation of the school.
"For the past 25 years, the staff at the ECC has done an exceptional job, " Killian said in the statement released, CBS reported,. "The cost of the program has resulted in a multi-million dollar loss," the school president admitted.
Parents said the statement issued by Killian only made them more confused. Ryan Bathie, a dad of one of the kids, said the news has been ridiculous and mind-boggling.
Ashely and Jonathan Knox, who are parents of a 4-year-old girl with autism, said the school changed their daughter's life. Parents are not charged for enrolling their kids at the center and Ashley said if they have to pay tuition to keep their daughter in the program, they would do that just to the school will not close down.
Jonathan, on the other hand, told ABC 7 when their daughter showed up in the school, she was non-verbal. After being in the school and undergoing different programs, their daughter was able to be more articulate.
Around 80 children from 3 to 5-years-old are enrolled in the programs at the school. It also has a School for the Deaf program, which is not supposed to be affected by the financial problem. A spokesperson for Teachers' Union also assured parents they are not having contract negotiations with the special needs school yet because their contract is still valid until 2018.
