The start of a new school year is usually a time of celebration and anticipation, but for parents of kids in the recently shuttered St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center (SMSJ) in Saugerties, it arrives with uncertainty and worry.
“We now have nowhere to send our son,” said Jacklyn Bernier. Bernier’s son was one of around 150 students in the year round, non-denominational STEAM-centered program unaffiliated with St. Mary’s religious education program. The early learning center offered daycare for children aged 3-5 and before-and-after-school care for children aged 6-12 who attended Lawrence M. Cahill Elementary School in the Saugerties Central School District.
Parents have reported difficulty in finding a local daycare option at short notice, with many providers in and around Saugerties already at capacity for the 2023-24 school year.
The end came suddenly, not only for parents, but also for staff. Chrissy Bradford, a daycare worker at the early learning center, said they were first informed of possible paperwork issues on Monday, August 21. Those issues were not reported to parents for another three days, and one day later the St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center was closed.
“Unfortunately, although New York State has granted our request for an extension of the Daycare License pending the resolution of the outstanding violations, we will not have the necessary staff to keep the daycare open,” wrote Father Christopher Berean in a Friday, August 25 letter to parents of children in the daycare at 25 Cedar Street.
In the past 24 months, the St. Mary-St. Joseph daycare has been inspected by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) nine times, six with no violations cited.
On October 15, 2021, an inspection found substantiation of a complaint that parents and the OCFS were not notified of the presence of a communicable disease while a child was in care at the program. That report shows the issue was corrected.
On April 21, 2023, three violations were found following a complaint, including isolating a child in a closet, darkened area, or any area where the child cannot be seen and supervised by a teacher; issues relating to the provisions specified on the license of a child day care center with relation to the maximum number and age range of children who may be in the care of the child day care center at any one time; and a regulation requiring the child care center staff to immediately report to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment by telephone, followed by a written report within 48 hours to the child protective services district of Ulster County. While the first two violations were deemed corrected, the latter was not.
Finally, on July 21, 2023, numerous violations relating to staff and volunteers were cited during an application renewal, including missing medical statements on forms provided by the OFCS; the results of Mantoux or other federally approved tuberculin tests for staff and volunteers; proof of staff and volunteers competing a minimum of 30 hours of training every two years, 15 during the person’s first six months at the program; and copies of current staff and volunteer health statements on file available for inspection by the OCFS. It was these unresolved violations that reportedly led to the closure.
“We want to thank the families for putting your trust in our program to care for your children for the past seven years,” wrote Berean on August 25. “We did everything we could to keep the daycare open. We sincerely wish we were able to report a better outcome for the families of SMSJ Early Learning Center.”
In a letter to parents one day earlier, Berean expressed hope that the program could reopen after being found “not in compliance with the Archdiocesan requirements and government procedures,” noting that they hoped to be granted a license renewal for the fall which would have allowed the daycare to reopen on Wednesday, September 6. A temporary extension was granted on Friday morning, but hours later Berean notified parents that the program would close instead.
According to the OCFS, the St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center was first licensed on July 6, 2017, with its registration renewed again two years later. The most recent registration period expired on Wednesday, July 5, with the program seeking a renewal that led to the July 23 OCFS inspection.
While Berean’s first letter to parents did not arrive until August 24, a letter from Tammy Reed with the early learning center was sent out on Remind, a popular school communications app, on August 21.
“We would like to address a rumor that has been circulating regarding our center closing,” said the letter. “While we do not know where this came from, it is not the truth. The church however, has told us it will be restructuring our center. While we do not know what the true definition of that means, we are told we will know tomorrow.”
Reed was reportedly fired the following day.
Bernier thought the August 21 letter from Reed might have related to the summer program, which her son did not attend, and thought it might be referring to an issue that arose in the spring.
“For some context in the spring the school was closed for a few days since the teachers were not paid correctly, short checks for overtime, no checks at all,” Bernier said. “Until the situation was remedied they were closed.”
Bernier said she spoke to her son’s teacher on August 25, who reminded her that her son had items at the center.
“I stopped by after work with my three-year-old son in the car,” she said. “I explained to him on the way we had to stop at his school. He asked why. I explained to pick up his things. He was confused. I said, ‘Your school is no longer open buddy, I will have to find you a new school; I could see the sadness on his face.”
Outside of St. Mary, Bernier spoke to other parents about the sudden closure while waiting for her son’s teacher to bring his things.
“He was telling her all about what he did this summer and she was so happy listening and chatting with him,” Bernier said.“As she walked away she said, ‘I’m doing my best to not cry in front of them.’”
Bernier said Bernier’s August 25 letter shifted the blame onto the early learning center staff, which parents did not appreciate.
“They not only failed Tammy and the teachers, they failed us and our children and the community that they serve in,” Bernier said. “Over 150 kids are now needing an alternate option.”
Bradford, who’d been with the St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center for over a year, sympathized with families like Bernier’s.
“Parents are upset about our closing and feel horrible for the staff,” she said.“It’s devastating.”
Late last week, the OCFS released a statement in response to queries about what families of the early learning center might do next.
“OCFS’ top priority is to facilitate and expand access to child care for New York’s hard working families,” read the statement.“In addition to historic investments in opening new programs, growing existing ones and increasing financial assistance to offset costs, OCFS offer several resources to help parents find high-quality child care options in the event their program can no longer provide services.”
The statement also included resources for parents seeking alternative daycare arrangements, including links to Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCRR), which can be found at:
https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/info-for-parents.php.
The OCFS also advised that as of August 2022, eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program (CAP) was expanded to include families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is up from 200 percent. That expansion extended eligibility to an estimated 394,000 children across the state. For example, a family of four earning up to $83,250 is now eligible for child care assistance; previously, the threshold was $55,500 or less. For more information on CAP, visit: https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/ccap/help.php.
As for the St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center specifically, the OCFS said their agency did not prevent the daycare from reopening.
“OCFS was working with the program in question to assist in complying with regulations related to its operational status,” read the statement. “At that time, the program was not facing any enforcement action by OCFS that would impact its license and it would therefore be inappropriate for OCFS to comment further.”
As of last week, Bernier was still looking into options for her son, but even though the end of the St. Mary-St. Joseph Early Learning Center was bitter, many of her family’s memories will be sweet.
‘He flourished here at SMSJ,” Bernier said of her son. “He built friendships and close bonds. He was born at the start of Covid, and being able to socialize with kids his age really helped him develop socially. He loved the teachers he had in his two years there. Tammy always greeted us by name and with a warm smile. She helped me so much with getting my son enrolled, and not only that, always got back to me when I’d check in on him during the day. We are now looking for another option and hoping to find somewhere with availability. Not only that but a place we are comfortable with and a place that my son is happy.”
Bernier said she wished the closure of the early learning center could have been handled differently.
“I am heartbroken over this,” she said. “The way they went about it all is awful. All by posts on Facebook. No calls or emails to parents involved and impacted by this. It seems they are avoiding us at all costs.”
Neither Berean, Molinelli, Reed, nor anyone at St. Mary’s could be reached for comment.
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