NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF — Several South Nashville families were thrown into a panic last month when they got word from their daycare that they needed to come immediately to pick up their child. Katie Howe, a Southminster Child Care parent, used to have nothing but good things to say about the church-run daycare that's been open since 1981.
"It was this quaint little place that Lillie loved going to," said Howe. "We made a lot of good friends through all the parents there."
The key phrase there — used to. Now Howe is frustrated.
"I was pretty frantic, pretty upset, pretty angry," she said.
On July 19, Howe got word she needed to come pick up Lillie as soon as possible. The next day, the church that runs the daycare, Southminster Presbyterian on Harding Road, called families letting them know the facility was permanently closing effective immediately.
"We had to let a couple of employees go on Friday and several other teachers walked out," said Senior Pastor Beth McCaw, two days after the episode during a recorded church service. "We will be grieving this for a long time."
The church's governing body, known as the Session, wrote NewsChannel 5 a lengthy statement that is included below. They said two employees were fired due to insubordination. No additional details were given.
As a result of the firings, a majority of the rest of the staff walked off the job, leaving the facility with too few staffers to be able to operate under state law.
Jennifer Santiago is one of those employees who was terminated by the church council.
"This didn’t have to happen," said Santiago. "When they fired me, I left and teachers walked out behind me because they knew that what the session, church, whoever was doing was wrong."
Santiago claimed it wasn't insubordination. It was the fact she started asking questions in a public meeting, two weeks prior, about how the daycare was run.
"There was parents there, all the teachers were there," explained Santiago. "They didn’t like the questions that was being asked."
Beyond losing her job, Santiago says this is a tough time for her family. Her young daughter was just diagnosed with cancer.
Thankfully, Howe was able to find a new daycare for her two-year-old. But both mom and daughter are still struggling to adjust to the fact Southminster is the place they used to go to.
"Having to find a new daycare, it’s not easy. And also, I was just so sad for my little girl because she had her buddies, and we wanted to keep them together," said Howe. "It’s not the same and she doesn’t know how to process that, so that makes it hard for me too."
Church's response
The following is a statement from a member of the Session that governs Southminster Presbyterian and the daycare they used to operate:
Following much discussion and prayer, the Southminster Session (governing body) came to the tough
decision to close the Southminster Child Care Center as of July 20, 2024. We had hoped to remain open, if not permanently, then long enough to give parents and teachers more runway to plan for the closing.
Unfortunately, several teachers left on Friday, July 19th after learning that the director and one of the assistant directors had been let go for insubordinate acts. This made it impossible for us to remain open and stay within the Department of Human resources guidelines for student/teacher ratios.
There is no way we could have found qualified staff and have them appropriately background-checked before the regular opening time on Monday, July 22nd, and we wanted to give parents and teachers as much notice as possible. Each family, and each teacher was phoned by one of our session members to relay this hard decision, and we had someone in place by Monday morning to allow parents and teachers to collect any personal belongings.
We regret having to make this decision because we know it places teachers and parents in an difficult situation. Given that, we are working to compile a severance for teachers to help in the transition.
It has been an honor and joy to work with the parents, teachers, and children in our child care for the last 40+ years, and we pray for God’s peace and care to go with them for the future.
Not the first shutdown
This isn't the first time Southminster Presbyterian has shuttered their longtime daycare. Back in 2017, it was a similar situation. The childcare center suddenly shut down after two employees were terminated and they didn't have enough staffing to remain open. NewsChannel 5 also covered the aftermath for the families impacted.
Eventually, the program was resurrected.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
There are a lot of great schools in our area. Congratulations to four schools in the mid-state that were awarded National Blue Ribbons for Academic Execellence. The were among six in Tennessee to receive that honor. They were among 356 schools across the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education!
-Lelan Statom
