Sandhills’ closure leaves Richmond County in a lurch

ROCKINGHAM — The Sandhills Children’s Center (SCC) Rockingham campus will close its doors on July 31, leaving Richmond County without a dedicated center for children with developmental delays.

SCC has served the community for more than 50 years, with the Rockingham campus operating since 2008. The center has been a resource for families of children with developmental needs in Richmond County.

Many in the community have turned to social media to voice their concerns and grief over the loss of the center.

“To hear that this chapter is coming to a close is not just sad — it feels like a deep loss for our entire community. SCC was more than just a daycare to us … It was a lifeline. A place that truly saw our children and helped them shine,” said Allison Sago Coleman in a post.

Coleman emphasized how crucial SCC has been for families navigating special needs support.

“Our community, especially families of children with special needs, deserve this kind of support. Richmond County needs a place like SCC. I don’t know the reasons for the closure, but I do know what we’re losing — and it’s enormous,” said Coleman.

In response to the announcement, Amanda Bowman Freeman, a parent affected by the closure, launched a petition on Change.org to urge board members to reconsider the closure. As of Friday morning, the petition has 817 signatures.

Freeman said the news came without warning.

“The news came as a shock — especially after I had just completed a summer registration form for my son to continue attending under a sliding-fee scale arrangement. Last year, I anticipated the challenges of securing childcare and placed my children on multiple waitlist – some over a year in advance. I placed Carson on the waitlist at SCC Rockingham in June 2023. This year, I wasn’t prepared,” said Freeman.

Freeman is left unsure about what comes next for her son, Carson.

“Now, I’m panicking about where Carson will be in August and whether he’ll receive the therapies he needs. I’m worried about who his providers will be and how we can ensure a safe and supportive environment for him.”

Freeman noted that services were already expected to be scaled back during the summer.

“We were already anticipating a reduction in services this summer, with therapy shifting from multiple sessions a week at SCC to just two private speech therapy sessions. His IEP is only funded through the school system for 10 months of the year. I’m deeply concerned that this gap will now extend beyond the summer and could lead to regression in his speech, fine motor skills, and emotional well-being.”

Seeking alternatives, Freeman contacted SCC CEO Kim Bullard to ask about transferring her son to the Southern Pines campus.

“Immediately after hearing the news, I contacted SCC CEO Kim Bullard to ask if my son could attend the Southern Pines campus under his developmental delay status through RCS. Unfortunately, I was told those spots are reserved for Moore County Schools (MCS) students. Even though I was ready to arrange transportation to make it possible, that option was not available to us,” said Freeman.

She also explored private options, but faced similar obstacles.

“I’ve since placed Carson on the waitlist at Sandy’s Creative Kids, where his younger brother attends. Though Carson has developmental delays and other childcare facilities may not be equipped for his needs. I also reached out to Roberdel Baptist Church School, but their enrollment filled in March. He’s on their waitlist as well, though their program only runs from 8:00–11:30 a.m., and we ideally need full-time care.”

Freeman contacted Richmond County Schools to explore Pre-K enrollment, but was told that RCS is still working to obtain developmental delay certification. According to Freeman, RCS currently offers eight Exceptional Children (EC) Pre-K spots at Monroe Avenue.

Freeman said that many local families are willing to help fundraise if they know the effort will directly support their community.

“From what I can tell, the community was blindsided. The SCC board has 17 members: 13 from Moore County, one of whom works in Richmond County, three from Richmond County and one from Cumberland County. Richmond County families are devastated, and many are willing to fundraise — but only if the funds are guaranteed to stay local,” said Freeman.

She hopes that the board reconsiders, at least long enough to give stakeholders time to act.

“What we’re asking for is time — a one-year extension. That would give RCS, county officials, or even private investors a realistic window to explore ownership or transitions. If someone were to purchase the property, they would still need months to secure nonprofit status, obtain developmental delay certification, apply for insurance credentialing, and retain qualified staff. That can’t be done in 90 days,” said Freeman.

The Journal reached out to Bullard for comment. Bullard said the closure is due to declining enrollment.

“Over the past 17 years, childcare enrollment at the Rockingham Campus has fluctuated. With the capacity of 120 total children, we have had years, especially early on, that we reached childcare enrollment capacity and other years that we that we have struggled to have even 90 total children enrolled. This year alone, we started the year with less than 60 total children enrolled. At our highest enrollment this year, we had 85 students in total. The decrease in numbers has obviously led to a significant decrease in revenues, while continued expenses for personnel, therapies, commercial insurance, materials and rising food costs, which we can all relate to.”

Bullard added that retaining certified staff has also been an issue.

“An additional challenge over the years has been recruiting and retaining NC Certified teachers to meet the staffing requirements for preschool classrooms of licensed Developmental Day Centers. This additional personnel requirement and the cost associated with it, along with the enhanced ratios that Developmental Day Centers required to follow, set us apart from most childcare centers,” said Bullard.

Bullard shared that the decision to closure of the center occurred in March between both Richmond and Moore County members.

“When the board, made up of members from both Richmond and Moore County unanimously voted to close the Rockingham campus, it was very emotional. We have had the privilege and honor of serving children in that community for many years. Unfortunately, not only in Richmond County but all across the state, community based developmental day centers are closing. In the past 10-15 years, the number of Centers like Sandhills Children’s Center has decreased from around 60 to less than 20. Most counties serve children with developmental delays ages 3-5 within the public school or in the few counties with a community based developmental day program, in combination with the community-based program. We notified Richmond County Schools within an hour of notifying staff and families that we were closing. Ultimately, the responsibility of providing any services for children with special needs, ages 3-22, is the responsibility of the public school district (LEA). Richmond County Schools has contracted with us to provide those services outside of their preschool classrooms. Because our contract is an annual contract, we wanted to let Richmond County Schools, as well as our childcare families, have as much notice as possible in order to find alternative care and a plan for services moving forward. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all of the children and staff that we serve and appreciate the support that has been given to Sandhills Children’s Center over the years,” said Bullard.

Richmond County Schools shared a statement with The Journal that states:

“Richmond County Schools is aware of the closure of Sandhills Children’s Center and is taking steps to support impacted students. We are focused on ensuring children eligible for our programs continue to have access to the services they need.

“We added an additional NC Pre-K application opportunity to help accommodate families affected by this transition. Families with rising kindergarteners should contact their zoned school for help with registration or to learn more about Ready, Set, Kindergarten, a summer program offered from July 28 to August 7 to help students prepare for a successful start to school.

“We are also working on plans to support students who have been served through developmental day funding. Those plans will be finalized after Pre-K enrollment is complete and individual student needs are assessed,” they said.