Families at the University of Kansas were given 38 elapsed days' notice, from September 22 until the scheduled October 30 closure, to find new childcare after learning that Hilltop Child Development Center, the campus's longtime daycare provider, will close. The center enrolled 155 children as of the previous week, and about half of them belong to KU students and employees, leaving many parents with few immediate options in Douglas County.
Ryan Shumaker, a former KU economics instructor with a 4-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter enrolled at Hilltop, described the reaction among families bluntly. “Complete panic,” he said, according to KSHB 41 News. The station reports that Hilltop's board of directors based its closure decision on a financial review that weighed safety, staffing, reliable leadership, consistent classroom environments, and enrollment growth. Chari J. Young, president of the Hilltop board, and Chancellor Doug Girod have both confirmed the decision is final.
Regulators Had Already Threatened the Center's License
The closure announcement followed months of regulatory trouble that only became fully public later. On September 2, 2026, the Kansas Office of Early Childhood sent Hilltop a letter warning that its license could be suspended unless it took corrective measures. The letter cited seven regulatory violations and required administrative training and a $1,500 fine; Hilltop had to comply to avoid suspension, according to the Lawrence Journal-World. State inspections conducted between March and May 2026 documented safety and oversight failures that included serving a dairy product to an allergic child, failing to supervise children during an exposure incident in a restroom, and leaving a broken playground climber unrepaired for several months, the paper's review of regulatory documents found.
Those findings sit alongside earlier substantiated problems. KU sent parents a letter in July 2025 regarding confirmed allegations of child abuse in one Hilltop classroom, and a review of Kansas Department of Health and Environment inspection results by KSHB found other substantiated allegations at the center between February and April 2025. A state investigation separately confirmed that a Hilltop teacher had punished students by spraying them with water, a finding that touched off a series of regulatory complaints and leadership changes that failed to restore stability at the center, per a Journal-World account shared on Facebook.
Staffing Collapse and a Petition Against Leadership
Behind the regulatory pressure was a staffing crisis. Enrollment at Hilltop dropped to 130 or fewer children by late September, down from a licensed capacity of more than 400, after more than half of its teaching staff departed over the preceding year, the Journal-World reported. The exodus forced classroom consolidations and shrank the center's practical capacity long before the board's vote.
Worker frustration boiled over into open revolt. Thirty of Hilltop's 34 teachers signed a petition in September seeking the removal of Executive Director Cori Berg, and parents and staff protested outside Capitol Federal Hall on September 24 during a university meeting, the same outlet reported. Staff accused leadership of creating unsustainable working conditions, a grievance that predates the board's final decision to shutter the facility.
A Center Born From 1972 Campus Activism
Hilltop's roots trace back more than half a century to one of KU's most storied protests. The February Sisters, a coalition of 30 female colleagues at the university, occupied KU's East Asian Languages Building for 13 hours on February 4, 1972, demanding a free daycare center paid for by KU, according to the university's own account on its Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies site. The sit-in also led to the creation of KU's women's studies department.
That history has fueled organized opposition to the closure. More than 450 KU faculty, staff, and graduate students joined 15 Douglas County elected officials on September 28 in sending formal letters urging Chancellor Girod to pause the closure and preserve the main campus facility on Ousdahl Road through at least March 2028, the Journal-World reported. Nancy Hamilton, a KU professor of psychology and researcher whose daughter Susanna completed her time at Hilltop in 2014, said reliable, accessible, and affordable daycare is an essential university function. Hamilton had a Hilltop spot negotiated as part of her own contract. Tara Fazzino, a KU associate professor of psychology, had a daughter enrolled at Hilltop two years ago.
University Cites Dual-Campus Costs, Promises a Task Force
Financial, staffing, leadership, regulatory, safety, and facilities considerations have figured in the decision to close the center. KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the university would never operate without meeting all applicable safety, staffing, and licensing requirements, and noted that families interested in enrollment had been easily accommodated for at least a year, with the exception of infants.
Hilltop is the only NAEYC-accredited early childhood center in Douglas County, according to KU. Girod has requested a work group of faculty and staff with relevant expertise to recommend assistance for affected Hilltop families and viable short- and long-term childcare solutions. Following public backlash, KU Provost Arash Mafi announced on October 2 that membership for the new task force would be finalized within two weeks, telling Kansas Public Radio that the group's goal is to assist affected families in the near term and develop sustainable childcare access for the future. Mafi added that support-service communication is being shared directly with Hilltop families.
KU Joins a Statewide Trend
KU's decision places it within a broader pattern across Kansas's public universities. Emporia State University closed its own campus childcare center in 2023, making KU the second Kansas Board of Regents institution to eliminate on-site childcare, while all other Regent institutions continue providing on-site childcare, Kansas Public Radio reported.
The center is slated to close by October 30, though it could close earlier depending on licensing, and must meet licensing requirements until then; families face an immediate shortage of accredited childcare options in Douglas County. Whether the physical Ousdahl Road facility will ultimately be preserved or repurposed remains an open question even as the university's work group begins its search for solutions.
