Pflugerville preschool closes unexpectedly, parents start petition

A preschool in Pflugerville is suddenly closing this month, leaving parents concerned.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - A parent who wishes to remain anonymous is one of several that received an email, provided to FOX 7, saying that their children’s school, the St. Elizabeth Early Childhood Development Center in Pflugerville would be closing suddenly.

"All the parents received an email on Friday from the director of the preschool just saying the preschool was going to be closing at the end of the school year," said the parent.

The email said the last day of school will be May 19, 2022. Any registration and supply fees that were already paid for the following school year would be refunded. This parent said the timing did create a bit of a hiccup in her plans for the fall.

"The majority of the private Catholic preschool programs, they typically open up their enrollment in February or March and a lot of the programs fill up quickly. For some of the parents, they wouldn't be able to enroll their children," said the parent.

The school has operated alongside the St. Elizabeth of Hungary church for 25 years, and the decision was made to "make space in the building for other purposes."

Some parents have even started a petition to save the school. "What I found out is that was not their intent, but it was an accidental fallout of it that they hadn't fully considered," said the parent.

"As a church member this was surprising to me," said Pflugerville city council member Rudy Metayer, who has been attending the church for more than a decade. "All of the children involved in that program have a good solid education and background. We know it's hard enough to find a Catholic, or even faith-based programs that are good quality childcare programs."

He hopes the church can ultimately decide to reopen the school possibly in the future.

"Hopefully after you bringing attention to this, they can have a further conversation about what can or cannot be done regarding the program," said Metayer.

As for parents, they are left to decide on where their kids will go in the fall. The parent who spoke with us said they will likely put their child back in a previous school she was in.

"We are looking at the possibility of going back to that program. I’m looking at assisting some other parents," said the parent.

FOX 7 reached out to St. Elizabeth, they said they would be preparing a statement to release in the next day or two.