EXCERPT FROM: The Burlington Free Press
By Tim Johnson
The child care center at Johnson State College will close June 30, a victim of budget cuts expected to sweep through the state college system.
Four staffers will be laid off, and families of enrolled children will have to make other day care arrangements, said Johnson State President Barbara Murphy, who said terminating the program was "an extremely difficult decision to make."
The closing, which Murphy announced last week, follows a decision last month by the Vermont State Colleges board of trustees to approve an annual tuition increase of 3 percent -- an action that college officials had said would require service or staffing reductions. Tuition accounts for more than 80 percent of VSC's annual operating revenue; the tuition increase last year was 6.7 percent.
"This is the only significant cut I can see us as having to make," Murphy said, assuming that fall enrollment meets projections. Eliminating the center won't affect the education curriculum, because Johnson State does not have an academic program in early childhood education.
The college estimated its annual subsidy for the center this year at $80,000-$90,000, Murphy said. Enrollment fees -- $160 per week for full-timers, $34 per day -- do not cover the cost of the service. The cost to the college has been higher during the economic downturn, as families have cut back on day care amid higher unemployment.