Sudden closure of 3 Utah day care centers leaves families in crisis

SALT LAKE CITY — Dozens of Utah families were left scrambling this week after three day care centers abruptly closed with less than 24 hours' notice, leaving parents without child care and with few answers.

Several parents said they received an email late Sunday announcing the immediate closure of Oasis Montessori in Syracuse, Bennion Learning Center in Taylorsville, and Adventure Time Preschool and Childcare in Provo. All three centers are registered to Lance Stewart of Draper, according to state business records.

The Department of Health and Human Services also confirmed it received notice that all three facilities intend to close.

"Just to shut your doors like that on people — that really left people in a bad spot," said Sarah Smith, whose son attended Oasis Montessori.

Smith, like many other parents, had prepaid for several weeks of care and is now unsure if she'll be reimbursed.

"We have paid ahead for three weeks — it's almost a thousand dollars," she said. "And we don't know if we're going to get that back. It sounds like we're not because no one has received any response from the owner. "

A notification email sent to parents cited post-COVID disruptions, rising operational costs, and declining enrollment as reasons for the closures. Stewart said he used personal funds to keep the centers running for over a year but that financial constraints had become insurmountable.

The email said in part: "As many of you know, the past year has been incredibly challenging for the entire child care industry. Even national chains are struggling or folding right now. The entire daycare economic model is broken post-COVID without massive public subsidies. The COVID shock permanently altered the child care industry and it has left us trying everything possible to continue providing a high-quality, nurturing environment for your children."

The email said the owner has "no more funds" to cover losses and could not operate due to debts to banks.

"It rocked us. All of us in the household were spending the day yesterday worrying about what we were going to do. My daughter-in-law is expecting another child in two months," said Karen Tapahe, whose granddaughter attended the Provo center.

The closures come amid growing concerns about the stability of Utah's child care system. According to a 2023 report by Voices for Utah Children, a child advocacy group, the state could lose up to half of its licensed child care providers following the expiration of the federal Child Care Stabilization Grants, which were introduced during the pandemic and expired September 2023. The report estimated that more than 35,000 children would lose access to care if new funding is not secured.

"We're seeing it really becoming more and more difficult for child care centers," said Moe Hickey, executive director of Voices for Utah Children. "We need the private providers, we need the business community, and we need government to come together and come up with a solution."

In an email to KSL, Stewart did not provide information on how many children would be impacted, or whether he expected closures at his other business ventures, but stated that parents would be refunded, and staff would be paid for the hours worked with support to place them at new jobs. He emphasized that he did everything in his power to keep the day cares open.

Stewart also said an arrangement was made for interested parents to transfer their children and staff to other local day cares. However, some parents said the arrangement wasn't convenient and, after the first month, child care rates would increase.

Still, for families like the Smiths, the sudden loss of care has created chaos.

"It's like he left us — and these employees and all these people — high and dry," Smith said. "Good day care is hard to find, and I think that's what hurts the most is that this was a community."

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