Детский сад университета штата Орегон закрылся через 11 месяцев после инвестиций в 3 млн долларов

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Oregon State University-Cascades has not hidden why its Little Kits childcare program closed after 11 months and after a more than $3 million investment in state/federal/county funding. It was costing the university too much to subsidize. The $3 million did not go to waste. The building is still there. Head Start began operating in the building on Tuesday with a first day of classes. And a search is on to bring in another provider of childcare. When legislators heard on Tuesday a brief presentation from OSU-Cascades about Little Kits and got an opportunity to ask questions, they asked one. “I would just like to hear a little bit more from you about maybe what could have gone better?” asked Rep. Jules Waters, a Democrat representing West Linn and Tualatin. It was the right question, if there was only going to be one. Christine Pollard, now the interim chancellor and dean of OSU-Cascades, who was not in the role when Little Kits opened, tried her best to answer. She said “it wasn’t a model that was affordable” with OSU running the program. Another model should have been considered for operating the program, which is what is happening now. OSU-Cascades is a wonderful asset loaded with smart people good at teaching. It was venturing into a new realm of operations. And then after 11 months, 21 families counting on reliable childcare were suddenly dumped out. We wonder if legislators and the county should insist on a formalized state audit of what went wrong. This was a taxpayer subsidized program that collapsed. Oregon needs to know how to maximize its returns on its investments. Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Editor Jody Lawrence-Turner, Editor Tim Trainor and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe.