Note: This article is the second in a series. Find all parts linked below.

Although sources who have been with Hilltop for a few years generally agreed they saw changes beginning or set into motion over the last year or more, most said the center has taken a dramatic turn for the worse very recently.

“Hilltop isn’t what it was in May,” said Anastasia, a parent who had kids at Hilltop for a decade, until last month. 

Current and former employees as well as parents all had concerns about speaking out, so we are using pseudonyms for most sources in this series. Information coming from those sources was corroborated with multiple people. 

No member of Hilltop’s board of directors responded to a list of detailed questions about the issues discussed in this series. Cori Berg, who started as executive director of Hilltop on June 2, also did not respond to questions for this series. 

‘You’re losing Hilltop’

In addition to ending field trips, Hilltop has halted walks around campus. Liz, a former teacher, said especially when KU isn’t in session, teachers would sometimes take students on walks, to go splash in the Chi Omega fountain or go where they could look over construction at the KU football stadium, for instance. Sometimes they could go play on the soccer field. The kids would take great naps on those days.

But a much bigger change rippling through the lives of Hilltop families is the absence of some key staff members and what they brought to the program. 

Within Berg’s first week on the job, she placed one of Hilltop’s most beloved employees on administrative leave for reasons that were never explained to families. He eventually resigned.

Oftentimes such sudden leaves are accompanied by whispers and questions of what someone did wrong; to the contrary, Mike Pisani’s sudden disappearance was met with loud outrage for someone known throughout Hilltop for the many things he did right. 

During a meeting with Berg in early June, parents from Pisani’s classroom spoke out: 

“Our children are craving his inspiration, our kids are craving his presence,” one person can be heard saying on a recording of the meeting provided to the Times. 

“I think we would all agree — losing this guy? Oh my goodness, that’s the game.”

“You have no idea what you lost.” 

“You’re losing Hilltop. You lose your wait list.”

With more than three decades at the center, Pisani was “the heart and soul of Hilltop,” Liz said.

“A lot of parents in his class pulled their kids out next year because since he has left it’s not the same,” said Barb, a former teacher. “The best way to describe it is the magic is gone.”

Following the reports of abuse at the center, detailed in Part 1 of this series, another parent said that “I felt insulated from all that since we were with Mike. That would be unthinkable from him. He was, by miles, the best teacher (among other things) they ever had.”

The sudden change was hard on the kids, as well, even beyond his classroom.

“Mike made it a point to know my kids’ names, even though they weren’t in his class,” said Emma, a current Hilltop parent.

Kids knew him from Hilltop’s weekly farmers markets. Pisani’s class would also auction birdhouses each year to raise money to put back into the Hilltop garden. 

“He just was really there for the right reasons and to do things that were cool experiences for the children,” Jessica, another current Hilltop parent, volunteered when asked what else she would like to say about the center at the end of an interview for this series. 

He also handled maintenance issues at the center. When something broke, he was the one people called to fix it, Liz said. 

Pisani said in a brief message Monday, “My time at Hilltop is in the past and out of a deep respect for the program, the families and the teachers I don’t wish to comment on the current situation at the center.” 

‘Worth the drive every day’

For Charlotte, a former teacher at West, leadership at Hilltop West were worth the 45-minute commute she faced each direction.

Whitney Smith was with Hilltop for more than 10 years. She became program director at Hilltop West when it opened. 

“I absolutely love Whitney and April (Young, assistant director of Hilltop West), and that’s what made it worth the drive every day,” Charlotte said. 

Liz said Smith was always quick to help with anything teachers needed, and she appreciated that support very much. 

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Last week, Smith gave notice of her plans to resign in 30 days. Families were informed. But the next morning, Berg told Smith she needed to leave immediately, Charlotte said. 

“(Berg) watched her walk out the door, into her car to make sure she actually left,” Charlotte said. “Whitney was not able to say goodbye to us — nothing.”

A parent who reached out also said they were upset about not being able to say goodbye to Whitney or thank her for everything she’d done this year. 

“I had amazing interactions with Whitney,” the parent said. “She was open and honest about any questions I had. She was patient and kind with my son when he had trouble using his words and not hitting.”

Charlotte said she thought Berg was retaliating against Smith for the abuse at West detailed in part 1 of this series, despite that Smith was not authorized to fire the abusive teacher. 

Casey Fraites-Chapes, president of Hilltop’s board, and Jennifer Wamelink, KU’s associate vice president of student affairs, sent a letter to families on Wednesday, stating that “Yesterday, you received word that Whitney Smith resigned from her Program Director role. Effective today, Whitney is no longer the Program Director for Hilltop West. We know sudden transitions like this are challenging. We remain focused on building a staff team that is unified in our mission and fully committed to creating a safe, nurturing, and academically rich experience for every child.”

Barb, a former teacher, said the letter made it feel as though Smith was being blamed for the abuse incidents. The letter states that the board and Berg “have begun to dig deep with a thorough review to understand the systemic and cultural barriers present at Hilltop that may have contributed to these incidents.”

“She’s very, very well loved, very well respected,” Barb said of Smith. “She is friends with everybody … even if she’s never had a child or their family in her class personally, she made them feel seen and welcome.”

Once she learned that Smith was fired, Charlotte — who didn’t know last Monday that she’d be resigning on Friday — was done. 

“I was trying to hold on as long as possible,” Charlotte said, “and I honestly was holding on for Whitney. I was doing it for Whitney. Cori had made it a very, very hard place to work for.”

Smith and Young could not be reached for comment. 

Open seats

The original Hilltop opened in a smaller location in 1972, and it moved into a larger site in 2000. It has since expanded with the addition of new wings. They celebrated the new West campus location with a ribbon cutting in May 2024. According to state records, the buildings together have maximum capacities of nearly 450 kids. 

“We were so excited when we got it, because I grew up here, and so the only thing that Hilltop was ever known for in a negative way was the wait list,” Emma said. “And what a hell of a thing to have be the worst thing about you.” 

This year, there isn’t a wait list, as far as sources were aware. That might be unprecedented. 

“Normally the wait-list is very long and a hot commodity to get on; the wait-list is very bare with lots of families declining spots and enrollment is very, very low,” a current staff member said via email Monday.

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, a spokesperson for KU, said via email that “I don’t have a current waitlist number at my fingertips.”

Keep reading: 

Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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— Wulfe Wulfemeyer contributed to this coverage.

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