July 27, 2025 6:40 pm

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Everett Community College unanimously votes to close Early Learning Center

EVERETT—After over an hour of public comment backlash, the Everett Community College Board of Trustees unanimously decided to close its Early Learning Center during a court-ordered special session Thursday, June 26. To a packed room, the crowd chanted, “shame,” immediately following the Board’s vote.

The Everett Community College Board of Trustees. Photo: Kienan Briscoe, Lynnwood Times

“This is not a cavalier decision, this is well thought out and well discussed,” said Board Chair Jerry Martin. “These decisions aren’t easy and it’s heartbreaking…I hear you loud and clear but as trustees we also have fiduciary responsibilities and part of that responsibility is to ensure that the college itself can survive. It impacts each and every aspect of every operation and we take that responsibility very seriously. Whether you agree or disagree with whatever decision the board makes, it is being made out of greater necessities that we feel is our obligation and duty as trustees.”

Everett Community College operates an Early Learning Center (ELC) that provides early childhood education services to approximately 76 children and employs 22 faculty and staff.

The ELC holds the highest possible rating (Level 5) from the state Early Achievers Quality Rating and Improvement System and maintains national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This school is unique in all of Washington and represents a model institution for early childhood education. 

The ELC operates under state regulatory oversight pursuant to WAC Chapter 110-300, with its own licensing and accreditations independent of Everett Community College, demonstrating its status as more than an internal administrative program, but rather a regulated educational facility that requires Board-level decisions for closure. 

Public comments at Thursday’s board meeting resounded with disapproval of the ELC closure, with parents, and community members alike, criticizing the board’s untransparent and “unlawful” process, prioritizing making money over offering a necessary service to the region.

“I can’t begin to explain how shameful it is that money is more important than our children and that this has been swept under the rug,” said ELC parent Magnus Johnston who spoke at Thursday’s board meeting.

Some public comments noted that the special session felt more like a formality than a genuine act; that the decision had already been made, especially given a recent Superior Court order to do so just one day prior.

Also speaking at Thursday’s meeting was County Councilwoman Megan Dunn, speaking personally, not representing the County Council. Washington State Representative Mary Fosse was also in attendance.

“In these tough financial times we do have to make hard decisions, and these are hard decisions, to maximize our resources to meet our statutory mission,” said Josh Ernst, VP of Human Resource for EvCC Thursday.

Announcement of closure

On May 7, 2025, at approximately 5 p.m. – during Teacher Appreciation week and a few days before Mother’s Day –Dr. Chemene Crawford entered the ELC for the first and only time as President, to inform teachers and administrators that they were terminated as of June 30.

Early Learning center
Exterior of Early Learning Center at Everett Community College which is scheduled to close at the end of June. Lynnwood Times | Mario Lotmore.

That same day, Josh Ernst, Vice President of Human Resources and Compliance, sent out official layoff notices to the Washington Federation of State Employees formally notifying the union of the closure decision and elimination of 19 union positions and three nonunion positions.

One day later, Rachelle Refling, ELC Director, issued an official letter to ELC families announcing the permanent closure of the ELC. In every official communication about the closure there is no mention of the Board of Trustee’s involvement in the decision, nor mention of public comment, public meetings, or voting procedures.

This is not the first time the college has attempted to close the ELC. It made a similar decision in 2021, also citing budget shortfalls, but, after the City of Everett and Snohomish County allocated a portion of their COVID-relief funds to keep it afloat, the college said it would return to the drawing board to identify a “long term solution” to make it sustainable. However, according to ELC faculty, and public testimony in court, the college made no attempt to do so.

Violations of the Open Public Meeting Act

Just yesterday, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Patrick Moriarty found Everett Community College in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and ordered them, by way of a writ of mandamus, to hold a public meeting where they would officially vote on closing its Early Learning Center (ELC). Given the immediacy of the ELC’s closure, that meeting was scheduled just one day later, on Thursday, June 26.

Court documents indicate that the decision to close the ELC was done without a board vote or public comment. Additionally, the College made the decision to close the center back in March but did not notify parents, or staff, until May — leaving faculty scrambling to find new jobs (and health insurance) while parents were left with no viable childcare for their children.

Public records indicate that the Board and Administration met during a “study session” on April 22, 2025, where the decision to close the ELC was made. Later, through an email exchange with EvCC President Dr. Chemene Crawford, Board Chair Jerry Martin questioned the need for public comment. 

Obtained emails also indicate that Dr. Cathy Leaker, Vice President of Instruction for the College, advised administration to “develop the narrative rationale” for the decision to close the ELC.

At no point was notice for public comment given on the issue, nor was the topic included in the meeting’s agenda (or subsequent minutes) as an action item. The college made no effort to advise the staff of the ELC, or students-parents of the ELC, that a discussion of its closing was ensuing. The discussion to close, which allegedly took place during that April 22 study session, was also not included in that meeting’s minutes.

The college’s “narrative rationale” of budget shortfall

According to Shelby Burke, Vice President of Finance for Everett Community College, the decision to close the ELC stems from it running deficits since 2021 – in the amount of nearly $200,000 a year. With COVID relief funds running dry, she added the ELC is projected to run a deficit this coming year in the amount of $300,000, which will only keep increasing as the cost to keep the facility open increases (such as salaries, supplies, and so on).

For years the college would have to pay those deficits from its own funding, Burke said, leading to the decision to close.

The ELC received American Rescue Plan Act funds from the City of Everett (approx. $150,000) as well as the County (approximately $293,520 over two years, from 2022 through 2024) to remain open but the County-allocated funding ended last October, and the City of Everett funding will be drying up this September.

“We’re not experts in early learning; we’re experts in higher education. We were not able to identify any long-term solutions to make it sustainable and now those grants have ended or will be ending,” Burke told the Lynnwood Times.

Despite the college continually citing financial deficits as the reason to close the ELC, they never once filed a financial emergency as required by state law, RCW 28B.50.140, or board policy.

Also, according to Alejandra Wood, Family Support Specialist at Everett College, the ELC was never allowed to access the COVID relief funds in 100% capacity despite the County and City explicitly stating the dollars could not be used to fund other college programs. President Crawford, however, told parents that the County-allocated funds were for the college generally, not the ELC specifically.

Wood informed the Lynnwood Times that throughout her 10 years, the college had little to nothing to do with the ELC. Even after successfully securing funding via the state and county, there were no conversations about how to improve overall enrollment. In fact, for three years, the ELC had more staff members than it did enrolled students which County Councilman Jared mead told the Lynnwood Times makes “no financial sense.”

Though the ELC has been serving 76 children on average, it has the license to serve up to 108. The board had the option of expanding the ELC’s classrooms to serve toddlers, one of the age groups in the highest demand for the region, but the board decided not to, for example. They then used the data of their low enrollment to support its decision to close.

Wood, who was just months shy of her 10-year anniversary with the college, added that she will be missing out on her pension due to her layoff.

The college failed to hire a business consultant, as requested by the County, explaining “they couldn’t fine one” and used outdated enrollment data when justifying their decision. In obtained emails, exchanged between VP of Human Resource Josh Ernst and VP of Instruction Cathy Leaker, Leaker even noted the outdated data and that there could be “slight differences.”

Everett College has also been receiving state Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA) money since 2021 in the amount of approximately $283,000 ($162,000 of which goes to the ELC), per RCW 43.79.520. These funds continue to be available and would cover the non-self-sustaining portions of the ELC’s budget, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Moriarty concluded Wednesday.

Public testimony at yesterday’s hearing revealed that viable alternatives to address the budget shortfall Burke cited existed, including modest tuition adjustments and enrollment increases that would maintain accreditation standards, but college administration were not interested in hearing potential solutions before making the decision to close the ELC.

Pre-COVID, Everett Community College’s ELC was consistently profitable, financial reports state. Post-COVID the ELC continued to be profitable in two, out of five, years. The three years it was not profitable, according to staff, were due to the administration’s refusal to hire staff or allow expansion, citing union labor costs as too expensive relative to non-union staff.

According to financial reports, Everett Community College continues to see growth in enrollment in the Spring Quarter 2025. State FTE enrollment reached 3,570, a 5.6% increase. The number of individual State-funded students was 5165, a 7.2% rise. Total enrollment (FTE) for Spring was 5,046, up by 4.7%, and the total number of individual students was 7,028, a 6.8% increase. Running Start also saw growth in Spring with 1040 FTE (a 2.6% increase) and 1,384 individual students (a 6.8% increase).

Potential financial incentive to close the ELC

Everett Community College has stated, and continues to state, that it hopes to use the existing state-owned ELC building in a continued childcare capacity in some way or other.

“We’re very hopeful that there will continue to be an early learning center in Snohomish County but we will not be affiliated with it,” Cathy Leaker, VP of Instruction, told the Lynnwood Times.

The existing ELC property is state-owned through the Washington Department of Enterprise Services (DES). DES will be handling the process of leasing out the property after the facility closes, Leaker added.

However, public records obtained by the Lynnwood Times indicate that conversations with potential leasing agencies began in early 2025 – well ahead of the decision to close.

In an email exchange to Dr. Crawford the board discussed how leasing the building out could potentially bring in over $274,000 to the college indicating financial incentive.

Impacts on students-parents, and staff

Many parents who utilize EvCC’s ELC are low-income and in a region where 80% of its residents live in an extreme childcare desert, reliable, affordable, childcare services are few and far between.

Snohomish County is one of the worst areas for childcare access in Washington State, compared to the number of children who need them. According to Child Care Aware, there are 62 slots of childcare in the county for every 100 infants, toddlers, or preschoolers, which is far below the state average of 79 slots per 100 children.

Even if parents can find childcare options in the county it’s seldom affordable, costing approximately $14,000 per year—more than an entire year of tuition at both the University of Washington and Washington State University.

For the select few parents who do manage to find last-minute childcare options, and who could afford them, the immediacy of the ELC closure left students-parents with imminent registration deadlines for summer quarter.

Kienan Briscoe
Author: Kienan Briscoe

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