Future Of Day Care For Brookline Teachers' Children In Question

BROOKLINE, MA — The future of a nonprofit day care for the children of employees of Brookline Public Schools is in question. The BSSCC, which is not run or a part of the public school system, has been using space at the old Baldwin School for at least the past two decades. Now, the district is asking that they leave by the end of the school year.

The Brookline Schools Staff Children's Center researched putting a bid on a vacant town-owned home near Larz Anderson Park. It looked promising — until it became clear that lack of parking and dropping off children on that busy street would just not work. Now they're back to the drawing board, and the district is insisting they leave by June 2020.

"We also just learned that the Town of Brookline plans to use our current classrooms in the Baldwin building for office space," said Jenny Longmire a co-chair of the BSSCC. Though it has also been discussed as a spot for BEEP classrooms.

The day care may only have a few dozen children, but those behind it say the impact is felt by everyone who has children in the system.

"Our existence helps the town of Brookline hire and retain young teachers," said the center's Director Jane Pinto in an email to Advisory Committee members in December. "Its reputation among teachers is so strong that the program enrolls almost entirely by word of mouth. Commonly, older mentor teachers or department heads refer BSSCC to younger colleagues."

The center's tuition, which runs less than $2,000 per child per month, pays the director, six teachers and 10 teaching assistants, according to the website.

"We are now planning to... once again fight for more time at Baldwin and/or help with securing a new location in Brookline," said Longmire in an email to Patch. "We obviously need to find a new location ASAP."

READ MORE:

Day Care For Brookline Teachers' Children To Move

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).