BrightPath to partially close Avon location 3 weeks before permanent closure
The daycare BrightPath announced to parents that it will close two of its four buildings in Avon three weeks ahead of schedule.
The daycare announced last week that the Avon location would be closing permanently on May 22, but now said two of the buildings, 7 and 8, will close on Friday, May 1.
In the statement to families, BrightPath said the closure is in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood.
“We recognize that this is a significant and sudden disruption for your family, and we are sorry for the difficulty that this creates,” said the daycare in the statement.
BrightPath did not explain in the announcement why the buildings would close earlier than the rest of the campus.
The announcement comes a day after a former worker appeared in court, facing charges of sexual assault against a minor. Jan Carlos Berrios-Otero, 29, was first arrested April 1 after an administrator at the BrightPath Avon Early Learning and Child Care Center contacted police about possible inappropriate contact involving a child.
According to the warrants, police identified six incidents involving five children, described in the documents as boys between the ages of about 3 and 5, at the BrightPath facility on Simsbury Road.
Attorneys Sarah Klein and Eric Schoenberg, who represent some of the families impacted, are calling for answers after BrightPath’s announcement of the partial closure.
Schoenberg said they have “serious concerns” that the sudden closure is part “of a broader attempt to evade responsibility and transparency.”
“When a childcare provider shuts down parts of a facility overnight, families deserve to know what,” Schoenberg said. “The children and families deserve answers, not continued silence.”
Klein said that partial closure does not equal partial risk.
“You don’t close childcare facilities overnight without cause,” Klein said. “If there are safety concerns significant enough to close part of a facility immediately, the question becomes: what assurance exists for the children still being cared for in the remaining buildings?”
The attorneys are asking anyone with information, including current or past employees, to come forward.
“Silences protect institutions, not children,” Klein said.
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