Dawson Weekday Program is closing its doors

08/09/2011

The families at Dawson Weekday program received some devastating news on Friday afternoon when they picked up their children from day care. Dawson is closing its full time program’s doors in May of 2012. Don Steen, Executive Pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, herded the parents in 15 minute intervals into the school’s lunchroom to break the news. A tearful group of mothers and staff left the room to begin research for other “at capacity” full time programs in the area.  Many other programs have a waiting list 10-15 deep for each classroom and this will only get worse in the coming days as all of the Dawson kids hit the waiting lists as well, paying anywhere from $25 -$125 per child just to be placed on waiting lists.

In a letter from the Mr. Steen, it is explained that an “Ad Hoc team” of church members made this decision to allow for more room for a Mother’s Day out program for young mothers in the church.  Some parents of the full time program were infuriated because of the wording "Ad Hoc". The term Mr. Steen used indicates that it was an informal group and the Executive Pastor did not seriously consider the severity of the decision as it affects 80-100 children’s lives.

The parents are writing letters, requesting meetings, and begging for reconsideration after the poorly executed announcement Friday afternoon.  Some hope to change his mind and others hope that they can convince Mr. Steen to at least phase out the full time program and allow the children currently enrolled to finish their tenure until Kindergarten. It isn’t likely that Dawson will need all 100 or so available spots for the growing Mother’s Day Out program immediately and this option seems like a win-win situation, especially with the new building being built to accommodate even more children on the campus.

It’s hard on children to make such major changes and this poorly planned decision has caused the parents of the program, many of which are church members, to question the motives and reputation of the “Ad Hoc” group at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church as well as the church’s leadership.