Wilshire’s Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) will close in May 2025, at the end of the current school year, due to financial challenges and declining enrollment. ECLC has struggled to break even financially since reopening after the pandemic, a deacon study group reported to the full deacon body on Oct. 21. Paula Woodbury, deacon chair and a member of the study group, noted that enrollment dropped from 247 students to 71 over the last four years, and the deficit for the current school year is expected to be at least $125,000.
The closure decision was made jointly by the Finance and Personnel Committees in consultation with deacons following the study group’s report. ECLC families and staff were informed of the news this week. The six-person study group and church staff will continue to evaluate what Wilshire might offer in the area of weekday early childhood education in the future.
Senior Pastor Timothy Peoples said, “We are keenly aware of how this news will affect the current and past families, teachers and other community members who have been involved in the life of the ECLC, and we want to express our sincere compassion for those affected. We prayerfully met over the course of many months to discern the path forward for ECLC. This decision has been incredibly challenging to make. However, we feel like it is the right decision for the life and stewardship of our church at this time.”
The study group was formed earlier this year after the Weekday Education Committee approached the deacons for help in evaluating ECLC. Along with Paula, the study group includes deacons Lauren Anne Cove and Rob Roden of the Personnel Committee; LeAnn Hampton, a longtime education professional; Mary Morgan of the Weekday Education Committee; and Steven Murray, a Finance Committee member and ECLC parent.
“We know this decision affects people’s childcare and livelihood. We hope this next seven-month period allows employees and families time to figure out next steps,” Paula said.
ECLC closed when the pandemic hit in 2020 and remained shuttered for the 2020–21 school year, longer than most facilities. After reopening, the school was aided by pandemic relief from the federal government, but those funds will be exhausted at the end of this fiscal year.
The study group also cited significant changes in the landscape of early childhood education in Texas. In 2019, the state legislature mandated that public school districts offer free or low-cost full-day Pre-K, in effect making it more difficult for private centers to attract or retain their oldest students, those ages 3 and 4.
As a Texas Tribune article explained, “Older children help offset the higher staffing costs of caring for infants and young toddlers, the savings of which are passed along to families.” According to a KinderCare executive quoted by the Tribune, “When 3-and 4-year-olds leave our care and enroll in a public school-run pre-K program, the impact to the overall child care center can be disastrous.”
This new reality became more evident as centers like ECLC reopened after the pandemic. “The pandemic did not cause our child care crisis, it revealed our child care problem,” one Houston nonprofit executive told the Tribune.
Timothy said, “As you receive the news of this decision, we hope you will join us in thanksgiving for the ways ECLC has played a role in the lives of so many individuals and families. And we ask that you will join us in prayer for the months ahead.”