Parents Protest Closure Of Early Childhood Center For Kids With Special Needs
Despite the rain and wind chill, over 50 parents, children, and allies of children with special needs came out this morning to protest the State Education Department’s (SED) freeze on funds for special education, which is forcing a Borough Park early childhood center to close in the middle of the school year.
Unless it receives the funds to maintain its programs, The Guild for Exceptional Children (GEC) – one of the few remaining state-funded schools in the area serving children with developmental delays – will shut its doors on January 23, 2015. The GEC’s board voted to close the preschool (located at 1273 57th Street, Brooklyn, NY) permanently after experiencing over nearly $2 million in losses over the past three years due to an SED freeze on tuition increases.
“The Guild is taking this measure with extreme sadness, as we have been a pioneer in the early childhood education movement, providing services to infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities since the 1960s,” said Paul Cassone, GEC Executive Director/CEO, in a statement. “The SED has frozen tuition for six years. This has caused the preschool to suffer unsustainable fiscal losses that would jeopardize the entire organization if not stopped. Despite repeated requests, SED has failed to provide the necessary tuition relief and we must close the preschool in order to preserve the rest of the GEC.”
In the past, the Guild fundraised and took out a loan to make up some of the $50,000 deficit it incurs monthly. But this time, if the school does not get the relief it needs, more than 80 employees will be laid off next month, and 242 children between the ages of 2.4 and 5 will have no place to go.
Parents told us they are worried that their children will lose all the progress they have made in learning to speak and socialize.
“We have no idea what we are going to do. There is no such school in our area for special needs,” said Peter Lam, whose son has developmental delays. “We are just hoping the school stays open.”
State Senator Marty Golden was in attendance at the protest, and vowed to do his part to obtain state funding for the school.
“I stand with Paul Cassone, CSEA, and the families to make sure that this place does not close. It gives a good education to our children,” he said. “Right now, I’m talking to people in Albany and attempting to find and have money reallocated to make sure this place doesn’t close.”
GEC provides a full range of services for children with development disabilities, including physical therapy, speech therapy, and art therapy, so that they can maximize their potential.
Here’s some video of the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp4X2kCxFMc