The parents of 91 kids are scrambling to find child care since officials at Noah's Day Care recently announced that the facility will be closing on April 20.
Many have by now resigned themselves to finding a place on the way to and from work in Tucson, because Noah's is the only licensed facility on Tucson's far East Side.
"There's nothing else out here," said Danielle Sipe, who's helping her daughter, Anya, find another place for Anya's son, Caleb, 4.
Anya, who lives in Vail, said she was so happy when she found Noah's two years ago that she quit her job in Tucson and took a job with the Vail Unified School District.
She's still looking, but she's fairly sure she'll have to settle for a home-based child-care provider. That frustrates her, because she said she'd like to keep Caleb in a preschool like Noah's.
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Anya said she'll try to get on the waiting list for a preschool program offered by the Vail district.
But those lists already are full, and there's a yearlong waiting list to get in, said Rosemary McCain, the district's director of community services.
She had received several calls from parents with kids at Noah's asking about the preschool program, McCain said recently. But there are no openings at any of the district's six preschool programs, and all have waiting lists filled through at least the next year, she said. The newest preschool, at Ocotillo Ridge Elementary, was already filled when it opened last month.
"The demand for child care in our community is greater than we can meet," McCain said.
Noah's is located in Rita Ranch and operated by the CrossPoint Community Church.
David Schwartz, pastor of CrossPoint, said he and other church officials don't want to close Noah's. But they don't see any choice.
The day care and church at 7901 S. Rita Road must move because they and five other businesses are within an area off the southeast end of the main runway at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base where airplanes take off and land.
Because the city has adopted policies that prohibit those businesses within that approach-departure zone, where there's a greater risk of plane crashes, the state is offering to buy the church's 7 1/4 acres, near the intersection of Dina Marie Place.
"We still have high hopes of keeping the church somewhere in the Rita Ranch area," Schwartz said, adding that the church is trying to help Noah's 16 employees find new jobs.
Church officials are waiting to hear how much the Governor's Military Affairs Commission will offer for the land. But they're dubious that it will be enough to build or buy another structure for a new day-care center, he said.
"The cost of land since we built the church (in 2002) has skyrocketed on this side of town, especially near Hough-ton" Road, Schwartz said.
Danielle Sipe wishes some company or governmental agency would recognize the dire need for child care and pay for building a facility to provide it.
"There's going to be tons of parents affected whose children go to Noah's, and what's their recourse?" she said.
Not much, at least on the East Side, said Leah Eckley, director of child care resource and referral for Child and Family Resources Inc., a Tucson-based nonprofit organization that advocates for children and families.
"The East Side is a big problem," Eckley said. "There are a few home child-care providers, but probably not enough to meet the demand."
"We've already gotten about a dozen calls from parents who have kids" at Noah's, she said. "I expect more once people realize how difficult it is to find child care."
The nation suffers from a shortage of good child care — a crisis that becomes clear when something like the closure of a day-care center happens, said Diane Umstead, a Green Valley resident and child-care policy expert.
"We're in a crisis in this country, a real crisis for Arizona," she said. The state ranks 37th nationally on a scale that measures the amount and quality of child care.
"We can't ignore this," said Umstead, founder of the Early Childhood Partnership of Southern Pima County and associate director of Children and Family Services at the Blake Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit social service agency with headquarters in Tucson.
Umstead said she'd like to see more day-care centers provided by big companies with lots of employees.
"I think businesses have to step up to the plate," she said.
Danielle Sipe has a simpler solution: Money for a new day-care center should be provided by the government that's making the church move, causing Noah's to close.
"I'd say, 'OK, you know what? It's your flight zone, so you should pay for a new day care.' "
To find out more
•Arizona Child Care Resource and Referral — www.azchildcare.org/parent/referral.html; 325-5778, 1-800-308-9000
•Arizona Department of Economic Security — www.azdes.gov/childcare; 325-5778
• Child and Family Resources Inc. (information, referral and assistance for home child-care providers) — www.childfamilyresources.org/child-care-services-arizona.htm; 881-8940
• The Blake Foundation, Child and Family Services (for special needs assistance) — www.blakefoundation.org; 325-6495
• Vail School District (preschool program information) — www.vail.k12.az.us; 879-3931
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