Milpitas Parents' Preschool Faces Closure

A preschool that has served Milpitas for four decades could close at the end of the month, because of a business model that has become part of its success and downfall.

"We've known probably since the beginning of the year," said Christi Bradford, president of the (MPP), who has had four of her children attend the program—and attended the school herself when she was young. "We knew that things were tough." 

The preschool, which rents space from the , has the capacity for nearly 40 students. Last fall, about a dozen were enrolled, said Bradford. But, now, there are two classes with only five students total.

At $280 a month for the pre-kinder program (four half-days a week), it is the second-most affordable preschool in the city. Only the program at the Milpitas Community Center and MUSD Child Development Centers, partially funded by tax-dollars, is cheaper.

The Milpitas Parents' Preschool is able to keep its costs low with its cooperative model, in which parents donate one half-day a week at the school. Parents perform jobs such as helping out in the classroom or cleaning the bathrooms. The only two employees are the teachers.

But in the economic downturn, parents may not have the luxury to volunteer one half-day a week. They might not have the luxury to enroll their child in preschool at all, said Zeya Moshin, co-director and teacher.

"The people in Milpitas are working parents, and that is the demographic that we are dealing with," she said.

On Thursday, the leadership of the preschool will decide whether to close at the end of the month or to close and reopen under a new business model, said Bradford.

"Milpitas has changed; our way of business has to change," said Moshin. "The parents of nowadays don't want to be helping out in the schools." 

One parent, Suzannah Hontiveros, said she moved her daughter to the city of Fremont's Tiny Tots program, which cost about the same and doesn't require parents to volunteer. 

Hontiveros was in charge of fundraising at the parents preschool, where parents were asked to purchase a $50 scrip each month to help fund the school.

"I felt like the repo man having to ask each parent for a check," she said.

Another parent, who asked not to be named, said she preferred a hike in tuition over being obligated to buy the cards (such as for Amazon.com) each month, in which only a small percentage would go to back to the school.

Hontiveros, who works on weekends, said the co-op simply did not have enough parents with time on their hands.

"I don't think there are enough stay-at-home moms who can help with preschool for three hours," she said. "The co-op model is a great idea if there are enough stay-at-home moms. I think a lot of people are put off by the commitment." 

Most of the co-op nursery schools in the South Bay were started in the '50s and '60s, such as San Jose, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Menlo Park, Campbell and Cupertino. Some already have their enrollment for next fall, said Bradford.

But the downside of the co-op model is the administrative duties that fall on the parents. In addition to under-enrollment, the school owes payroll taxes, which resulted in fines from the IRS.

"This is another kind of issue with the co-op and the ever-changing board," said Bradford, who came on as president after the tax problems had already begun.

"The president, vice president, treasurer, secretary … it turns over, and that's an area that MPP has had trouble with—the transition, getting people acquainted to the new job and getting things done," she said.

There was also more work for a smaller pool of parents.

"Unfortunately, that has more to do with lower enrollment," she said. "People have multiple positions, on top of volunteer work and family life. And I guess things just got missed." 

The preschool had contracted out its services to a bookkeeper, but she dropped the ball on paying payroll taxes for a few years, said Mohsin.

"We had a bookkeeper just so that we would safeguard ourselves from this happening," said Mohsin. "One day we received a phone call, and that's when we started investigating."

Which is why Bradford is making a last-minute fundraising effort for pledges of at least $35,000. As of Friday, she had raised $2,000.

"We decided we couldn't not try," she said about the financial miracle she was hoping for.

With under-enrollment and owed taxes, the preschool has not been able to pay rent or pay its two teachers.

"When I found out none of the teachers were getting paid, I could completely understand if they left," said Hontiveros. "They're very committed, obviously."

"When you think about the time and things you have to put in," she said, "personally, now I know what's involved in co-op, I would pay more" to go to preschool where parents aren't required to commit their time.

The Milpitas Parents' Preschool is the only preschool in the city accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), except for children of Cisco employees.

Contact President Christi Bradford at 408-258-6536 or christiree@aol.com.