Buellton’s Zaca Center preschool, at risk of closing after the county found it could no longer support it financially, has found a path forward with a new community-driven nonprofit organization to oversee it and fundraise for it.
In a Sept. 1 letter to parents, the Santa Barbara County Education Office announced that the preschool, at 27 Six Flags Circle, would close at the end of the current school year without a new operator, causing immediate concern among parents.
The center’s expenses were exceeding its revenues, and funding avenues have changed over the years, Kathy Gulje, the South County coordinator for the office’s special education services, has said.
The popular 20-year-old preschool has been supported by the SBCEO’s special education department, under which is has been operating, as well as by private tuition paid by general-education parents, said Dr. Florene Bednersh, who originally founded the center when she was the SBCEO’s assistant superintendent of special education.
Bednersh was hired by the county to be project manager for finding a path forward for the school.
Bednersh said she met with Zaca staff, who told her they were eager to remain with the program and concerned that a new, outside operator may change the program’s direction while not retaining them.
Parents and Buellton’s City Council were also very receptive to pitching in financially and helping with fundraisers, Bednersh said.
“It was incredible, the community outpouring of concern for the school,” she said.
Zaca Center will retain its staff and director, Shelley Grand, and the parents, staff and city officials involved in the 501(c)(3) nonprofit are currently drafting its articles of incorporation, Bednersh said.
The SBCEO still wants its special education students to continue attending Zaca, and the special education department will move to a “business relationship” with the school, she said.
County Schools Superintendent Bill Cirone announced that the office would continue supporting the center after the end of the school year if the nonprofit is not yet up and running.
“With all these stakeholders working together in partnership for a common purpose, it is clear that the outlook is bright,” Cirone said in a statement. “We are particularly proud and impressed by the parents involved, and their level of enthusiasm and caring.”
Zaca operates under a “full-inclusion” model, meaning its 2-to-5-year-old general- and special-education students learn side-by-side in classes that take place mostly outdoors.
The preschool is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and a demonstration site for the Outdoor Classroom Project, an initiative of the Child Education Center.
As a demonstration site, early childhood educators from across the state visit the center and check out its educational model.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.