A Palm Harbor daycare abruptly closed on Monday leaving dozens of angry parents scrambling at the last second to find new child care.

  • Learning and Play Palace closes without notice
  • Parents left in jam to find alternative childcare

“I showed up to drop my son off at daycare… to find out that the daycare just closed with no notification whatsoever,” said parent Ashley Norris. “I had to cancel my own job today and take the chance of losing my job.”

Norris said she had been taking her son to the Learning and Play Palace located at 3350 U.S. Alt 19 in Palm Harbor for more than a year. The single mom said she depends on the daycare.

“I’m livid. I’m so mad I could almost cry to be honest with you,” she said. “I’m just trying to correct it and go from there.”

Another parent, Stephanie Riccelli, said the daycare closing has left her in a jam.

“A huge bind. I have to go and get shot records, physicals,” she said. “I have to find another provider that has availability for a 1-year-old. Which in this area is very limited.”

The teachers who were packing up their belongings Monday morning said 47 students attended the daycare but declined to comment further because they had not yet received their last paycheck. Bay News 9 obtained a voicemail message that some parents and staff said they received over the weekend.

“Parents, I apologize for the inconvenience but as of Saturday, we just learned that our center will not be re-opening on Monday due to landlord tenant issues,” the voice said. “Our landlord has decided to sell the property and wants us out of the property immediately.”

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, the corporate officers for the Learning and Play Palace are listed as Latrice and Kreig Lake. Bay News 9 got the following statement emailed from the daycare that did not have a name attached to it.

“Our contract which he (landlord) breached several dozen times is no longer valid and due to expiration and he wanted us out of the building immediately. As soon as we got notice we made of immediate arrangements to notify all parents and employees. We can't speak much of this matter because I fully intend on taking my landlord to court about this.”  

When asked for the name and contact number for the daycare’s landlord Bay News 9 did not get a response. The Pinellas County Health Department said the daycare notified the agency it was going to close at 10:41 p.m. on Sunday.

The Learning and Play Palace voicemail message stated that parents who paid in advance would receive refunds and employees will get their last paycheck in the mail.