Nearly a month after sudden closure of Sierra Vista Children's Academy, employees have yet to be paid

Almost a month has past since Sierra Vista Children’s Academy shut down, seemingly overnight, with no notice to either parents or staff, and, as of Friday, staff members are reporting they still have not received the pay they were promised by owner Lynn Wagner.

Prior to the abrupt closure, however, things were not running smoothly according to staff members.

One staff member, Kristina Wagner (no relation) said that Lynn “did not wish to invest her time or resources into the business, at the expense of the employees and children,” and despite the fact that the staff “truly cared about the children,” they were not provided guidance, training, and even background checks were not being completed.

“Employees were often shorted on their pay rates, time keeping was not done correctly, they often were not paid on their pay day, and the owner never followed through on any of her promises to staff,” Kristina said.

She also alleged that staff and children were constantly sick, which, while viruses being passed around through childcare facilities are not unheard of, no mitigation efforts were being taken to stop the spread of strep throat, hand, foot and mouth disease, and COVID.

“Absolutely zero precautions were taken to ensure the health and welfare of the staff or clients,” Kristina said.

Prior to the shutdown in early April, staff was told mid-March the facility would be shutting down because Lynn could no longer afford to pay staff.

Then, according to employee Allie Patellos, an hour after the announcement that the facility would be shutting down, Lynn called the director of the facility to say that the business would no longer be closing as the Boys and Girls Club was “for sure going to buy the business.”

“So we trusted what Lynn said and didn’t inform the parents (of the closure) because she promised us that everything was going to be fine and she’d be able to pay us,” Patellos said.

Then, on April 3, Lynn called the director once more and said she would not be able to pay staff for their work until April 11.

“This was the third and last time any of us wanted to deal with it, and didn’t want to start a new payroll week when she couldn’t even pay us for the last two weeks we just worked,” Patellos said. “We all stuck around because we love our kids and wanted to be there for them, but also at the same time, we can’t work for free — we all have bills to pay.”

While some employees opted to leave on their own, others chose to stay despite the pay issues. However, the decision came anyway when Lynn told employees to return their keys to the business.

One employee was Grace Wiseman, who intended to stay on.

“A good majority of the staff decided to leave instead of working for free,” Wiseman said. “I never once said that I was quitting, but (the day after it was announced paychecks wouldn’t be covered) the owner had me return my keys to her.”

It was staff, not Lynn, who reached out to parents April 3 to let them know that Sierra Vista was closed with no notice.

“It was definitely a shock,” said parent Sammy Aloia. She received notice of the closure via text message.

Many parents scrambled to find childcare, with dozens reaching out on social media pages and Facebook groups in an attempt to find emergency child care. Some parents even stated they still had credits with Sierra Vista, and had not been able to reach staff on how to be paid their money back.

Most employees stated they had been told about the Boys and Girls Club taking over the facility, which is why they believed their jobs were secure.

However, the acquisition was never finalized, and at the time of publication, has still not occurred.

When asked about the purchase, Brett Zuni, CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada, said that he would not specifically comment on the acquisition of Sierra Vista to “protect the privacy of the owners … and the integrity of any private conversations,” but said that the Boys and Girls Club is actively pursuing a growth plan that includes developing Early Learning Centers.

“We are seeking to work with other organizations that want to attract and retain quality employees by developing Early Learning Centers under the roof of the organization or nearby,” Zunino said. "If Sierra Vista Children's Academy goes on the market, we will take a look to see if it fits our model.”

At this time, Carson Now's attempts to reach Lynn Wagner have been unsuccessful. Employees say they have yet to receive their paychecks despite being nearly a month past when their checks were expected for March payroll.