Village Renews Agreement With Cathedral Nursery School

Garden City trustees again granted Cathedral Nursery School (CNS) a one-year extension of its license agreement between the school and village to enable the continued use of four cottages near St. Paul's.

The current lease expires June 30, 2014; trustees approved the extension to expire on June 30, 2015.

The vote, however, was not unanimous. Trustee Robert Bolebruch felt the board did not have enough facts to vote on the request at this time. He was the only nay vote.

"Personally I do not think this should be voted on at this time," he said at this month's village board meeting. "We have not discussed this particular item as we have addressed every other item that has ever come before the board. In my opinion I do not feel we have all the facts."

Fellow trustee Brian Daughney said the village's relationship with the non-profit nursery school needs to be clarified.

"We as a board agree we're going to take some action to clarify the whole situation and that relationship to make sure it's on steady ground for multiple years instead of just one year at a time, which seems to drive everyone crazy and doesn't do any good planning for the school as well," he said.

The request for renewal is made a year in advance for nursery school registration purposes, according to Cathedral Nursery School director Diane Cina.

More than 250 families, a majority of which live in the village, send their children to the CNS preschool program. The school is run by a staff of nearly three dozen women, more than half of which reside in Garden City.

Last year's extension approval included a $6,000 rent increase ($500 more a month). The nursery school, prior to the increase, paid the village $1,000 a month to use the four cottages, which they extensively renovated on their own dime (approximately $350,000 in renovations and maintenance over the past decade). The school now pays $18,000 annually in rent. The increase was the first since the school moved into the cottages in 2003.

Student enrollment for 2013 surpassed 275, according to school officials. This year marks the school's 45th year.