Colorado shut down 32 preschool help offices. Providers say the backlog followed.

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun

Gina Wallick took over a childcare center earlier this year in a town that is a pitstop for travelers along Interstate 25 but home to more than 12,000 residents who have few options for childcare and preschool.

Wallick said she wanted to preserve the Wellington center — north of Fort Collins, where she owns another childcare center — so that as more young families move to the area, they have “a reliable, quality” spot to send their children. 

Bee Curious Early Learning Center has been up and running since August, now thrumming with the sounds of young students learning how to pronounce the letter “K” and jabbering as they color pumpkins and ghosts on Halloween-themed worksheets.

But one major and unexpected challenge has strained Wallick’s business in its first few months: Despite more than 50 emails Wallick said she has sent to the state’s early childhood department to register Bee Curious Early Learning Center as a universal preschool site, Wallick said she has received no paperwork from the department. Nor has she gotten anything more than an automatic email reply confirming the department’s help desk received her inquiry and “will be in contact within 5 business days.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN