LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Families in Lake County are facing uncertainty after the sudden announcement that the Waterman Early Learning Academy will shut its doors on Jan. 10. The facility is citing soaring rent and rising operational costs.

Parents Kerry and Joel Oquendo send their 5-month-old daughter, Emma, to the academy and said they were blindsided by a letter sent on Dec. 29, giving them less than two weeks to find alternative child care.

“Honestly, I didn’t get to fully read it for several hours because it was such a shock,” Kerry Oquendo said. “All that matters is daycares closing.”

Kerry Oquendo said the closure has been emotionally taxing.

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“I’ve been crying a lot. Lots of headaches. Just dread in the pit of my stomach knowing we have to find someone to take care of her and go through the process of handing her off to a stranger again,” Oquendo said.

Finding child care in Lake County is especially difficult for families with infants, Kerry added.

“It’s impossible, really, since not all places offer infant care,” Kerry said.

The daycare’s CEO told News 6 that the academy has been searching for a new location for months after AdventHealth — which owns the building — informed him that rent would increase from $1,500 to $14,000 per month. Rising business costs were also cited in the closure notice.

AdventHealth released a statement on the situation:

“While we are not involved with operations or decisions on behalf of the daycare, we fully empathize with the concerns raised by families. For nearly two years, we have actively worked with the facility’s operations team and provided below-market rent while they explored alternate location sites.”

AdventHealth

With the closure coming so soon, the Oquendos said they and other families are desperate for solutions.

“Maybe someone could open more daycares in the area to make life easier for families,” Kerry said. “We’re even considering selling the house and moving closer to Orlando, where there are more options.”

The daycare operator noted that up to 70% of parents who use the facility work at AdventHealth. So far, there has been no update on who the new tenant of the building will be.

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