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

Hilltop Child Development Center is supposed to open its doors for the fall semester on Monday, Aug. 11. But many Hilltop staffers and families are unsure whether that will be able to happen — and if it does, if it’ll happen safely. 

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. 

Taylor, a former teacher at Hilltop Main, provided a long list of concerns about policies and practices that are changing at the center. A key concern for many is the ratio of teachers and aides to students. 

“Chronic understaffing has led to missed breaks and prolonged periods where teachers are alone in classrooms, contributing to exhaustion and burnout,” Taylor wrote. “Scheduling issues have been met with dismissive attitudes from administration.”

Because so many employees have left, some West staff members have been moved to Main. 

“The teachers aren’t able to choose what room or age they get,” Taylor said. “In past years we had the option to choose the age group and classroom if it was available. This year no one has had the freedom to choose. I’m also pretty sure some teachers that are not lead certified will be running rooms just so we can open.”

Policy chaos

Numerous parents and staff members voiced concerns about rapid changes in the time since the board hired Berg as the executive director of Hilltop. 

Parents and staff members said they’ve had concerns in particular about policy changes and how they have — or haven’t — been communicated. 

In addition, some parents said their kids have been moved into different classrooms without them being notified — that’s “in order to meet ratio requirements,” according to Taylor’s notes. “Despite administrative claims to the contrary, this practice occurred regularly throughout June and July. Families were not informed, and the inconsistencies further undermine the center’s stated commitment to safety.” 

Changes to policies around restroom use in particular have led to confusion, frustration and medical issues. Staff members at Main, who have very limited access to staff restrooms, are no longer allowed to use the same restrooms as the kids. 

Berg, in recordings of meetings with staff members and parents, explained this as a way to protect staff members from false claims of inappropriate behavior. She also said it was to protect children in case “an Amazon delivery man” “comes by during the day,” a hypothetical that raised incredulous questions from parents in attendance. 

Former teachers said the policy changes have led to long lines and waits to use restrooms, meaning teachers are spending more time away from their classrooms. They also said Berg is no longer allowing administrators to cover classrooms so teachers can use the restroom. 

Anastasia, a parent of former Hilltop students, said kids can’t use the bathrooms more than one at a time unsupervised. She saw a lead teacher spend at least three 30-minute blocks sitting on the carpet waiting for kids to “do their business,” she said. 

In addition, teachers said some new policies require duplicative reporting of injuries and similar administrative work that they’re already stretched too thin to complete.

‘A place I thought I’d stay at forever’

At an annual salary range of $37,500 to $42,000 for teachers we spoke to — and the highest salary one of our sources knew of being $45,000 — Hilltop actually pays a little better than most early childhood education jobs in the area. (The executive director position was advertised with a minimum salary of $110,000.) 

That’s not stopping several employees from leaving their Hilltop jobs with no fallback plan in place. 

“I couldn’t stay at a place where I was losing sleep, not able to eat or just constantly in fight or flight,” Taylor said. She noted that she was dropping weight fast in her last two months at Hilltop — previously “a place I thought I’d stay at forever.” 

“I knew I needed to put my mental health first!” she said. 

Many staff members have left recently, and most of the employees who have left Hilltop interviewed for this series said they have felt unsupported. Though the exact number of resignations in recent months was unclear, sources estimated between 10 and 15, with more planning to leave in the coming days and weeks. 

One current staff member said they are “aggressively looking for new employment.” Another said they might stay another two or three months. Most who did stay are there for the kids, Taylor said. 

“Believe me, it’s just that bad right now,” another current employee said. “This is … years of my life being dedicated to these kids. It’s just killing me.” 

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Many parents, too, are not exactly thrilled to be staying at Hilltop. But child care slots are very limited in Lawrence and Douglas County, and for parents who work or attend classes at KU, Hilltop is a very convenient option. 

“Safety would be one (concern going forward) just because of, I think, a level of disorganization that has kind of trickled down to unsafe conditions for the kids,” said Jessica, a parent of a Hilltop student. 

She cited the incidents the state investigated, as detailed in part 1 of this series: “You worry about that with your kid. I think I worried less because I knew the lead teacher well, but there were a lot of people coming in and out of his room this year that I had no idea who they were.”

‘Reach out directly to Cori Berg’

Multiple employees said anytime they ask questions about policy changes, Berg becomes defensive and hostile. They said Berg acts as if they’re being noncompliant.

Many parents and staff members said they had reached out to Hilltop’s board of directors. They said they received no response, but the board members would forward their emails — many citing concerns about Berg — to Berg. 

Although no members of the board responded to questions for this series, either, Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, a spokesperson for the University of Kansas, did. 

Asked to address concerns we had heard — that Berg is not responsive to families, that she talks down to parents and staff and that she is creating a toxic workplace — Barcomb-Peterson attached the same letter families were sent on Wednesday, from Hilltop board president Casey Fraites-Chapes and Jennifer Wamelink, KU’s associate vice president of student affairs.

The letter encourages families to “first reach out directly to Cori Berg in her role as Executive Director. She is in the best position to hear your feedback and address your concerns.”

Barcomb-Peterson simply responded “No” when asked whether Hilltop has any concerns about being able to open on Aug. 11, and why or why not. 

“Change is hard, and Hilltop leadership and staff have had serious conversations about how Hilltop will do better,” Barcomb-Peterson said. “Hilltop is fortunate to employ dedicated and caring teachers and administrators who show up every day to put in the hard work it takes to do right by Hilltop children.”

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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