Parents with kids at the Norwalk Early Childhood Center are urging the school district to reconsider closing the preschool, calling it a pivotal resource for some of the youngest, most vulnerable learners.

“My son is 3 years old. He just started at NECC over the summertime. He receives OT, PT, speech therapy,” explained Elyse Williams.

Those individualized services are why Williams chose NECC for her son, who has special needs. The pre-K program is for typical students as well but specifically caters to those with varying developmental delays.

“He has come so far. When he started NECC, he couldn't really run. He couldn't jump. He couldn't walk up stairs alternating his feet,” Williams told News 12. “He had a lot of speech delays and he's just speaking so much clearer. And he's a lot more confident and wants to speak with people.”

Williams is grateful to the school and its community, which is why she and other NECC parents were stunned to get a letter from Norwalk Public Schools on Jan. 8 announcing NECC will close at the end of the year with classes and staff being relocated to different elementary schools.

“It was absolutely mind-boggling,” said Claudio Crespo, recalling his reaction to the letter.

Crespo couldn't believe the decision was made without community input. He has twin 3-year-old daughters at NECC.

“It would be really traumatic for them to go from a small classroom where they have speech therapy, a psychologist and everybody just helping them out to going into a large school with 400 kids,” Crespo said.

NECC, which has six classrooms, opened in 2016.

“I know other districts were looking at us like, ‘Wow, Norwalk's doing a great job. They're doing it right. They're able to have this special ed program for the children where they're able to thrive in this setting,” Williams stated. “It just almost feels like are we taking a step backwards. How are we going to make sure that this doesn't repeat history and end up with difficulties again?”

Norwalk Public Schools media relations specialist Emily Morgan said in an email, "This relocation is in alignment with our strategic plan which aimed to build Pre-Kindergarten programs into every elementary school. The decision was made after careful consideration and driven by several factors."

One of them is space, which Morgan said has become limited. NECC shares the building with the Norwalk Senior Center.

At the Board of Education meeting Tuesday, multiple parents pushed for the city to move the senior center elsewhere, but Superintendent Alexandra Estrella told them that’s not possible.

Almost every speaker during the meeting’s public comment session shared concerns about closing NECC. Current and past parents spoke, some of them very emotionally.

“This school is what I needed as a parent to work through the emotions of entering the special education world. I am deeply disturbed by the decision,” said Brandalyn Williams as she teared up. Her son, who is now in first grade, attended NECC from 2021-2023. “This decision is not giving parents an option for an environment that is small, developmentally appropriate and curated to meet the most complex needs. We are at a time in our culture where we know some kids need more than others. NECC was a solution to this district at one point in time. We are losing the very special and unique and necessary experience.”

Other parents who addressed the board brought up concerns that not all the elementary school buildings have the same accessibility for kids with disabilities. Another concern was how dispersing staff would affect collaboration and the quality of services that kids receive.

NECC’s Parent Teacher Organization condemned the plan and decision-making process in a letter sent to the superintendent and Board of Education. The letter called on the district to keep the program's six classrooms on site while putting any additional classrooms at an alternative location for the upcoming school year, during which parents, staff and the district could work together on a plan to keep all the classrooms together.

Morgan told News 12 that beyond the space issue, moving the pre-K students back into elementary schools will help to provide a smoother transition to kindergarten and allow them to access additional resources at those schools.

But NECC parents want to know how.

The letter parents received about the closure said district leaders will share more information about the plans in the coming weeks. They’ve scheduled a town hall for NECC parents Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Jefferson Marine Science Elementary School.

“I think the unknown is really hard, especially as parents of kids with special needs, so then to add in this extra layer of not even knowing what's coming is a lot,” Elyse Williams said, adding that if this is a done deal, she urges NECC parents to work with administrators and teachers, so all concerns are addressed.