UCLA will shut down two of its childcare centers – one of which employed a teacher arrested for child sexual abuse in 2024 – next June, university leadership announced Thursday evening.

The Early Care and Education program – including the Krieger and University Village centers – will close June 30, 2027, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt said in an email to parents obtained by the Daily Bruin. ECE, which largely serves employees’ children, is “not sustainable” for the university to continue operating, Hunt added in the email.

“Universities across the country are reassessing campus-based childcare as enrollment patterns, operating costs and family needs change,” Hunt said in the email. “Please know every available option was explored before reaching this conclusion.”

Christopher Rodriguez, who taught at ECE for nearly 25 years, was convicted of nine charges – including willful cruelty to a child and sexual battery against a minor – in April 2025. He taught at both the Krieger Center – from 1999 to 2001 and 2020 to 2023 – and the University Village Center from 2001 to 2020. 

[Related: Former UCLA child care teacher sentenced to 7 years for child sexual abuse]

Rodriguez was sentenced in June to seven years in jail, but appealed his conviction and was later released on bond, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate locator. The LA County Superior Court issued a warrant for Rodriguez on Feb. 9 after he did not show up to a scheduled court appearance. 

As of Aug. 14, he was still at large. 

[Related: ECE parents say UCLA isn’t updating them on ex-teacher convicted of sexual abuse]

The closure also comes as UCLA faces budgetary woes, causing cuts across campus. ECE announced in April that it would raise tuition, stop offering meals for children and pause hiring amid university-wide budget shortfalls. ECE reversed the decision ten days later, after parents protested outside of Chancellor Julio Frenk’s residence. 

[Related: UCLA Early Care and Education admin announce reinstated food, formula programs] 

UCLA’s budget deficit was projected to be $220 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, Interim Chief Financial Officer Reem Hanna-Harwell announced in a March campuswide email. 

Stephen Agostini, UCLA’s former CFO, alleged to the Daily Bruin in February that university administrators’ financial mismanagement contributed to an annual budget deficit of $425 million. Hanna-Harwell said in the email that the estimate was misleading because it included spending requests that had not yet been approved. 

Four days after The Bruin published his allegations, Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that Agostini was out as UCLA’s CFO. 

[Related: UCLA CFO out days after alleging history of financial mismanagement]

Some faculty members whose children attend ECE said they were blindsided by the move. 

Professor A, who has two children at the Krieger center and was granted anonymity for fear of retaliation from the university, said Krieger directors did not discuss the closure during a family council meeting on Thursday. 

“We are concerned about how this will affect faculty retention, but also the ability for UCLA to recruit competitive faculty in upcoming searches,” Professor A said. “It’s a big thing that people worry about – how can I perform the research and the teaching and the service obligations that I need to the university and that I want to provide for the university, but then also have these obligations for my childcare?”

Erica Weaver, an associate professor in the department of English, said she feels that the closure is disrespectful to parents, teachers and staff. Weaver, whose children began at ECE in 2023, added that she is concerned for the teachers who have been at ECE for decades and have made a positive impact on her children.

“The most essential research and teaching support that I have received from the university over the past several years has been a spot at ECE,” she said. “I don’t even know what people are going to do because there’s not an equivalent option that I know of anywhere close to Westwood, and if there is going to be anywhere, it’s going to have very, very long waitlists.”

Samantha Butler, a professor of neurobiology whose child was previously enrolled at the Fernald center, said ECE allowed her to be successful as both a mother and faculty member.

Hunt said in the email that UCLA would offer families an “educational navigator” who could help them find other childcare options. But Nikki Barry, an assistant professor in the department of education who has a three-year-old at the Krieger center, said in a texted statement that long daycare waitlists will make it challenging to find alternative care.

Professor B, who was granted anonymity for fear of retaliation from the university, said he is considering leaving UCLA because of the closure and instead teaching at other universities that offer childcare. Most of the other UC campuses offer childcare, he added. 

“Kids are the most important thing to us and to basically any parent, and so of course, the loss of a great, safe, effective childcare where they seem to be flourishing is devastating,” he said.

Weaver added that she believes the children will also be negatively impacted by the closure because many of them already had to switch to the Krieger center after the Fernald center closed in September 2025. Budgetary issues caused the Fernald center’s closure, said Tina Christie, the dean of the School of Education and Information Studies, and Georgia Ann Lazo, the associate dean of University Partnership Schools, in a March 2025 email obtained by the Daily Bruin. 

“Continuity of care is the number one most important thing for small children,” Weaver said. “That is an awful lot of instability.”

[Related: UCLA childcare center to close, attendees to move to Krieger center in September]

Professor A and B, who are married, added that they feel their children could be negatively impacted if teachers left during the 2026-27 school year to find replacement jobs. ECE said that staffing may change during the transition period, but that the center will continue to maintain a safe environment, according to its website’s FAQ section. 

“How is UCLA going to recruit high quality teachers who … have to be told that this job is for less than 12 months?” Professor A said.

Professor B said he worries the closure will also mean a loss of community for faculty. ECE has served as a space where faculty from different departments have been able to connect, they added.

“You can connect with other faculty through family, and so there’s sort of a loss of that important part of our community,” Professor B said.

For some people who were at ECE at the same time as Rodriguez, though, the decision was welcome. A former ECE teacher, who was granted anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said in a texted statement that they believe the closure was the right decision for the children because they do not trust ECE’s administration.

“They deserve people in leadership positions who care about their wellbeing more than their paychecks and retirement earnings,” the teacher said.

Parent A, who was granted anonymity to protect the identity of their child who they suspect was abused by Rodriguez, said they believe the centers were better off closed than led by the same management. However, they added that they hoped the UCLA administration could find an alternative to closure.

“This is not the outcome that we wanted,” the parent said. “We wanted a change in governance. We wanted ECE out of Ed&IS. We wanted permanent oversight. We wanted it to be done right.” 

Weaver said she feels the closure is a broader reflection of the university’s priorities.

“If it’s a football program, they’re happy to waste millions and millions of dollars on it,” Weaver said. “But if it’s essential childcare that’s going to enable people to then attend classes or work in the labs, work in research, then suddenly, that’s something that is an unnecessary expense for the institution.”