Parents left scrambling after South Tampa preschool announces closure

TAMPA, Fla. - Parents in South Tampa are scrambling to find childcare after learning their children's preschool is closing at the end of the school year.

Good Shepherd Day School announced it's closing on May 29. The school is a ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

What we know:

Parents received a letter earlier this week announcing the closure of the preschool, which serves dozens of families. In the letter, the school cited challenges with long-term sustainability, with rising operational costs and fiscal deficits that the congregation can no longer support.

It said the decision comes after "extensive financial review, operational cost analysis and months of discernment."

You can find the full letter sent to parents here: 

What they're saying:

Families felt blindsided by the news and say the closure puts them in a bind with childcare.

"Just the timing of it's really unfortunate right now because the closure of the school will mean that there will not be a summer program this year," Tricia Harper, a parent said. "So, we're scrambling, and probably about 70 other kids, trying to figure out where everybody's going to go come June 1."

Harper's seven-year-old is a graduate of GSDS and her five-year-old is set to graduate this spring, but she says they were relying on the summer camp program for childcare.

"The news is gut-wrenching," she said. "And then just to think about how that cascades, you have 14-plus teachers that are now going to need to find replacement employment."

She says the preschool has been an integral piece of her children's development.

"It's not just a school," Harper said. "It's way more than a school."

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For many families, they rely on the school for childcare year-round.

Ivan Munteanu's two and a half-year-old son has been attending GSDS since June.

"Since he started, we had the same teachers," he said. "I mean, where do you see such retention in daycares today? You don't see it anywhere. And the teachers and the director is like family for us."

A group of parents wrote to church leaders, requesting a disclosure of its financials and a meeting with leadership.

"Let's see if we can do a tuition raise," Munteanu said. "Let's see if we can do fundraising, let's see if we can apply for a grant."

However, families were ultimately told that the decision to close stands. Parents say they haven't heard back yet about meeting with church leaders.

"We have questions and just want to, you know, get to the root of it, see if there's anything we can do," Harper said. "And if there's not anything we can do, then how do we go forward as a community? And how does this not feel so divisive?"

Dig deeper:

Good Shepherd Day School's closure highlights a deeper issue of lack of childcare.

"We have been on the waiting list at multiple daycares in Tampa," Munteanu said. "And the waitlist is like two years, three years."

Parents say childcare facilities and summer camp programs fill up so quickly, that they've likely missed the deadline to register their children for most programs.

"The church has made some suggestions of other schools that are available, but that doesn't guarantee that they're not actively enrolling, they have wait lists, etc.," Harper said.

The other side:

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church shared a statement regarding the closure on Friday afternoon.

Church leaders said the closure comes after five years of efforts to renew and stabilize its ministries.

Leaders said the "decision follows an extended review of declining membership trends, aging and increasingly costly facilities, and the long-term financial realities that have intensified in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic."

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The church reiterated ongoing financial challenges and a concern for long-term sustainability.

"We recognize the shortage of high-quality childcare options in South Tampa and understand the strain this places on working families," Rev. Pedro Suarez, Bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the ELC said. "We are actively exploring the possibility of launching an independent early childhood program in partnership with interested parents and community leaders, should a sustainable model emerge."

You can find the full statement from the church here:

What we don't know:

It's not clear what the future holds for the school's property.