The future of the Little Room, a nursery program for 3- and 4-year-olds with speech and language delays in Cobble Hill, hangs in the balance.
Hopefully, help is on the way.
State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Councilmembers Steve Levin and Brad Lander sent a letter to officials at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, asking them to rethink their decision to close the school.
Here from the New York Post:
The pols in their letter to Helene Banks, chairs of the BHMS’ trustee board, said this left potential sponsor YAI Network insufficient time to cut through legal hurdles with the state’s Department of Education to locate new space, negotiate a lease and begin a build-out for a September opening.
The letter suggests two options for saving the school.
One calls for BHMS to extend the deadline for closing Little Room to August 2011. This, the elected officials said, would give YAI Network “ample time to complete all of the necessary paperwork and to identify and properly prepare a new home” for Little Room beginning in September 2011.
The second option is for BHMS to allow YAI to operate Little Room in its current location at the Montessori school next academic year. YAI would rent the space and use the extra time to find a permanent site.
BHMS, however, is not budging.
Brooklyn Heights Montessori’s pr firm has intentionally distorted the Little Room community’s request. We want the programs to be separate now as well. We just want another year, sufficient time to finalize our arrangements for space and NYS ED Department approvals. I would expect the PR firm to try to spin their response. The plain truth is such a horrible story even a PR firm could not make it sound ok for the school. The school neglected to file the necessary papers to increase LR reimbursement rate for the last 4-5 years and it appears there are some accounting problems and administrative problems that BHMS had with the program for years. It was either intentional or incompetent, not sure but it is one or the other. Almost all parties involved in this, except BHMS think another year will enable the LR program to survive. And BHMS has proven to be such experts in the field right? Ask the PR firm who Maria Montessori, the founder of the movement worked with? Answer poor and developmentally handicapped kids. Who is BHMS kicking to the street? Answer: Developmentally handicapped kids. Who else? All the kids in the neighborhood receiving related services as well. So it isn’t just the 27-28 potential kids in the program. It is many more?
SO LUPE TODD DO YOU CARE TO ANSWER THESE DAMNING FACTS?
I bet not.