Parents upset by closure of center devoted to HIV children

Cathy Scott

Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 | 10:59 a.m.

Chanting "What did we do wrong?" "Please let us in" and "Reach Out is for kids," preschoolers, along with their brothers and sisters, enrolled at the Reach Out center marched in protest outside its closed doors Wednesday night.

Parents dropping off their kids Tuesday morning found the doors closed to Reach Out, the only day-care center in Clark County that specifically accommodates children with or affected by the HIV virus. The center shut down over a dispute that has yet to be resolved involving a parents group, the director and the board of trustees, parents said.

Stepping in Wednesday night was Yvonne Atkinson Gates, chairwoman of the Clark County Commission, who told parents the county would mediate to get to the bottom of the problem.

"I don't know if it will open tomorrow, but we'll have a social services mediation team in here first thing tomorrow morning to try and resolve this," Gates told a handful of parents gathered outside the center at 1522 Pinto Lane. "This building will open tomorrow. I don't know when the school will open."

Because the county owns the building and rents to Reach Out, the center is "in breach of their contract," she said. "We have to remember what the intent of Reach Out is. It's for the kids."

She said the problem between the parents and the center stems from no clear definition in the roles of the parents group and the board.

"We're going to help define it," she said.

Parents were met at the doors Tuesday with a sign that read, "Reach Out closed until further notice. Employees are terminated effective 10-29-97. Please call to make arrangements to pick up checks."

Parents said their only recourse was to be with their children while they protested. About 15 kids marched in front of the building for hours, beginning Wednesday afternoon and into the night. They took a break about 6 p.m. for a fast-food dinner, then started marching again, on their own.

"The board has done this out of spite to the parents," said Angie Tinsley, a parent of one preschooler, as she watched the children protest. "We asked them all to resign. But Reach Out isn't theirs. This belongs to the kids. They can't do this."

Jennifer Holloway, who has worked as a teacher for Reach Out for five years, said four teachers and the director work at the center. The school is funded by state grants and private donatons.

Holloway was notified Tuesday just as she was leaving for work that Reach Out was closed.

"You'd think there'd be some kind of notice so parents could make other arrangements," Holloway said. "They fired everybody and shut out the kids."

Reach Out, a nonprofit organization founded in 1990, teaches children with or affected by the HIV virus.

"We have evolved from a simple day care operation to a full-scale learning center," Roberta Macias, executive director of Reach Out, said in an earlier interview. "Our goal is to teach kids, not just watch them."

Reach Out's new $1 million building on Pinto Lane was donated from funds pooled by the city of Las Vegas and Clark County 1 1/2 years ago.

The organization serves about 90 children, ranging in age from infants to 12. There is no fee to the parents.