Low Income Childcare Center In Morristown Closing After Church Rent Rises

MORRISTOWN, N.J. – A battle between two of Morristown’s longest running organizations is coming to a head, and in the middle is a group of children in need of preschool education and day care facilities.

The Collinsville Childcare Center, which has been providing educational and day care facilities to low income children in the Morristown area, will be closing its doors on June 30 in the annex behind St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

The reason comes down to cost, and has led to a he said, she said battle between the two organizations.

St. Peter’s Church Rector Janet Broderick told Patch the reason for the increase in lease costs is because the worship center has been underwriting Collinsville’s utilities and general maintenance costs at the annex building for years, and simply can’t continue to do so for fear of losing funds for its own outreach and children’s programs.

“I’m very sad about it,” Broderick said. “The church has been underwriting most of these costs for Collinsville for the last three years after it partnered with the Y.”

Broderick said the church paid some $26,000 in bills on behalf of Collinsville in 2015 alone.

Broderick said the church reached out to Collinsville leadership six months ago to explain the circumstances and that rent would be rising. Rather than working together, Broderick said, Collinsville decided to shut its doors.

In 2011, the Greater Morristown YMCA assumed management of Collinsville and has since financially assisted its operations.

The basis of the Collinsville model is for low-income children to have the same educational opportunities as those who are able to afford tuition-based preschool, according to Caren Frankel, former Collinsville Board President and member for 20 years.

The child’s parent or parents must both be working, and cost for the child to attend is on a sliding scale based on the family’s income, Frankel said. There are a set number of slots in the program that are federally subsidized.

The day care center left the annex in the late 2000s for space in Whippany when rent cost from St. Peter’s began to rise, Frankel said. However, because of the location and that most of the students needed to remain local based on transportation difficulties, Collinsville headed back to Morristown not long after.

Frankel said the rent cost was $7,500 annually in 2008, and has been $48,000 since. Future cost would nearly double, Frankel said.

“We have always managed to survive obstacles set before us, in recent years with the YMCA’s generous help, but this one is insurmountable,” Frankel said.

Broderick could not immediately confirm the numbers.

Collinsville is currently scheduled to close its doors on June 30, 2016.