Dozens of parents and teachers showed up Monday morning at a school in northeast Charlotte, still in shock about its sudden closing. A short time later, a locksmith pulled in and began changing all the locks there.

As parents and teachers gathered outside the Goddard School on Back Creek Drive Monday morning, it was clear some were only just finding out about the closing. Other parents said they found out through an email.

More than 75 families brought their children there for day care, including Jauntae Smith.

“It is going to be a big adjustment for him,” Smith said. “This is all he has known as far as day care, and so now he has to readjust, make new friends. That's hard. He just turned 2 -- he doesn't understand change."

Inside, Eyewitness News could see parents gathering diapers and other items before the locks were changed. By 9 a.m., sheriff deputies arrived, posting a sign near the front entrance.

The property manager said the school didn't pay its rent that had climbed to tens of thousands of dollars.

There are 11 Goddard Schools in the Charlotte area. Bill Strickland has the franchise for two other schools and said the company is trying to help parents who've been displaced.

“We're trying to find another spot for them and for the teachers as well, because we don't want to forget the teachers,” Strickland said.

There were also people from several other day cares who showed up, passing out their business cards and brochures to parents there.

http://bcove.me/n0476foo