Santa Rosa preschool abruptly closes for mold removal

A Santa Rosa preschool abruptly closed this week for mold removal, sending dozens of parents scrambling to find alternative child care.

Merryhill Country Preschool Principal Angela Barrientos emailed the parents of nearly 100 students late Tuesday, informing them the school needed to close indefinitely because of air quality test results. In a second email to parents Wednesday, she said water had seeped into the preschool and the school was working on “remediation.”

“The heavy rainfall led to concerns by officials about water getting into the building and through the walls and doors,” Barrientos said in the email, obtained by The Press Democrat.

Barrientos declined to comment Thursday.

Noble Learning Communities, the corporation that owns the private Santa Rosa preschool, did not release the air quality test results and declined to comment on the details of the report. However, an official said mold was a concern.

“After recent heavy rainfall caused water damage in our school, we proactively had an air quality test conducted,” spokeswoman Kerry Owens said in a statement Thursday. That report led them to immediately close the school.

“With air quality concerns and mold remediation work that must be done, our focus is on repairing our school so it can be restored as a safe and healthy learning environment.”

However, it's unclear how long it'll take for the school to reopen.

The property is within the city's jurisdiction, said Jesse Oswald, Santa Rosa's chief building official in the planning and economic development office. He said his office will make sure the school complies with city building codes before it reopens.

Beyond that, Oswald said there is little more they can do.

As a private school, Merryhill is not required to report its air quality test results or mold problems to the county or city, government officials said.

However, Merryhill parent Nicole Wade said she's worried her 2-year-old daughter may have been exposed to mold. She also raised concerned about finding alternative child care for her daughter, who had attended the preschool since she was an infant.

Wade said she and her husband both work full time to afford their $300-a-week preschool tuition.

“Inconvenienced is not even the right word to describe how we are feeling because everywhere we have called so far about possible child care told us they have no openings until at least July,” Wade said. “I may have to take a leave of absence from work since all the schools are full.”

California is facing the worst child-care shortage in its history, and the county is no exception, said Lara Magnusdottir, director of Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County, a nonprofit that provides free referrals to licensed child care providers and other resources.

Also known as 4Cs, the agency has been fielding numerous calls from panicked parents, Magnusdottir said. She said she reached out to Merryhill so it can inform families about the nonprofit's resources. With soaring housing costs and wages for child care workers at an all-time low, there are few options for families living in the North Bay, she said.

“I don't know if there will be spaces immediately at these facilities since we are already at a crisis point, but we can give parents a list of providers that might have openings and support them through the process,” Magnusdottir said. “Merryhill was pretty big, so this is going to be a difficult challenge for these parents.”

Like Wade, many parents expressed frustration with what they called a lack of information and resources from the school. They said some day cares have yearlong waitlists.

Some parents said they had to bring their kids to work this week or take vacation days to tour preschools and day cares in the area.

“My wife just started a new job and can't take time off, but luckily I have vacation time saved so I am using that to take care of our daughter,” said Troy Moya, another parent. “Some places I have been looking at told me there is a 19-month waitlist, so I do not know what we are going to do.”

Patrick Rippon stopped by Merryhill early Thursday to pick up some of his 2-year-old son's belongings. He also tried to get information on the school closure and mold remediation but to no avail, he said.

“My main concern is for my son,” Rippon said, juggling a box full of blankets, water bottles and toys while carrying his sniffling son, Clark, in the other hand. “It could very well be possible that he's been sick because of this and we just don't know.

“Also there is no information on how long it will retake for the school to reopen,” he said. “Depending on what they find it could be closed for weeks or months.”

You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CrossingBordas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been revised to note that Merryhill Country School is in Santa Rosa city limits and therefore governed by city. The property is not owned by the city.