Eagles’ Nest Early Learning Center located at 10655 Highway 119 in Black Hawk announced it would be closing their preschool room on November 22, 2023, causing a lot of problems for parents with small children in Gilpin County. Where will parents be able to find childcare moving forward?

The nonprofit announced its immediate preschool room closure last week, not giving much notice to employees or parents. Unless the program can come up with the funds it needs to run through the remainder of the year, many families will have to find alternative care.

The nonprofit organization posted to social media last week saying a reduction in state and local funding, a deficit due to capital expenses, and cost increases forced the closure.

As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization Eagles’ Nest relies heavily upon support from the community in the way of direct funding and grants to keep the tuition low and the quality of care high. This year they are experiencing a deficit due to capital improvement projects in 2022/2023, increases in cost, and due to a decrease in the funding from local and state entities.

Eagle’s Nest is the only organization of its kind in Gilpin County. County Commissioners tried to save the program with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act as well as emergency funding, in the amount of $45,000.

Anne Powe, president of the two-member board blamed the mismanagement of funds on a previous financial advisor. A possible theft is being investigated by the Gilpin County Sheriff.

In a letter addressed to Powe on November 2, 2023, County Manager Ray Rears said:

“As you are aware, per your “Emergency Funding” letter sent to the County on September 25, 2023, Eagles’ Nest Early Learning Center (“EN”) is facing ‘financial challenges.’ Based on that request the Board of County Commissioners authorized $45,000 in emergency funding on September 26, 2023, to support EN through this difficult time with the following stipulations 1) File a report with the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office, prior to receiving payment; 2) Solicit funding from area businesses, other government agencies and others; 3) Reduce costs and raise fees, while increasing enrollment, [in order] to lessen [the] deficit; 4) Accept the appointment of Commissioner Berumen to recommend changes to the bylaws and budget; and 5) Regularly report [your] progress during BoCC meeting[s) starting on October 10th.”

The letter continued to say that Eagles’ Nest has failed to solicit outside funding and reduce costs. Also, the recommended operational and/or staffing changes made by the County have been addressed in a less than urgent manner. Additionally, the police report was filed but because of actions by the Eagles’ Nest board prior to the report, Rears said it is unlikely to be successful.

According to Sheriff’s Department Administrative Manager Cherokee Blake, “The Gilpin Sheriff’s received an alleged complaint of theft in late September. The case is currently under investigation.”

The County Manager anticipates Eagles’ Nest to become insolvent on or around December 2, 2023, and encourages them to consult a bankruptcy attorney. The County will not be providing any additional funding.

In a letter from the Eagles’ Nest Board of Directors addressed to the Eagles’ Nest families, the Directors said, “Earlier this week we made the decision to end care in our preschool room as of today,11/09/23, in an effort to allow us to continue the greater center’s operation. Even with the tuition increase earlier in the year, the closure of the Pre-K Room, and efforts by the board and staff to cut expenses and increase funding, Eagles’ Nest is still running at a deficit which is not sustainable.”

The letter continued to say, “We regret the limited amount of time that parents have been given to find other childcare options but to be able to compensate our employees and debtors, the difficult decision was made that our last day of operation for the entire center is currently scheduled for Wednesday, November 22, 2023.”

Salina Gomez, the Executive Director, shared her perspective in a recent statement given to The Mountain-Ear, “We had someone in charge of finances who misspent our money. She spent a bunch of money on capital improvements as well as teacher appreciation. The board wanted to have benefits a hundred percent paid for by Eagles’ Nest, which was a huge mistake. And those capital improvements were costly–new stucco, new gutters, a shed; we had new fire mitigation. At the end of 2022, she was asked to leave.”

After Gomez stepped into the position of director, she gained access to the finances and immediately started making cuts after seeing such outrageous expenditures. She raised tuition, cut benefits, and sought more board members through advertising.

By the time they asked the commissioners for funding, the situation had snowballed.

“It all happened really fast,” continued Gomez. “We have a huge payment to pay off with the SBA loan that was taken out in 2020.”

Gomez did share that the school had recently received a “Level 4 Colorado Shines” rating which means that the program is licensed, in good standing with the state, meets health and safety standards, and is regularly monitored. Level 4 is an excellent rating since the highest rating is a five.

Gomez expressed regret for the situation and though hoping for a “hail mary,” is realistic about the center’s imminent closing.

Gilpin County Commissioner Sandy Hollingsworth submitted a statement to The Mountain-Ear, saying:

“The County is saddened by the Board of Eagles Nest decision to close in November and the cascading impacts the decision has on the entire community but especially families relying on local childcare to work and to enrich their children’s lives. County officials had met with the Eagles Nest Director and board members over the last few months in an attempt to try to get their operations on a sustainable path. Unfortunately, their call for help came too late for responsive change. Even with their efforts and the County’s long-standing financial support it was not workable. The County is very interested in supporting child care needs for our community. Some local stakeholders have expressed interest in the creation of a sustainable new child care provider. If another option arises, we are available to discuss a proposal.”

A lot of residents and families are heartbroken over the news and some have moved away due to a lack of childcare options.

Nederland and nearby Coal Creek Schools may have options for Gilpin County residents, though may be too far for parents to commute.

Eagle’s Nest Early Learning Center has created a GoFundMe online fundraiser to help raise funds at https:// www.gofundme.com/f/help-keep-eaglesnest.