Village cuts pre-school programs

Citing increasing premiums or possibly no liability coverage for nursery and pre-school classes run by the East R’s Recreation Department, the village board of trustees has decided to discontinue the two programs. Parents criticized the decision at Monday night’s village board meeting — just hours after some of them had attended their children’s Moving Up to Kindergarten ceremonies at the Rec Center.

“Parents registered in January, and we were not told until last week,” Dena Arnold said of the cuts, addressing the board. Parents with children enrolled in the programs received a letter from Recreation Director Kristen O’Hagen, dated June 7, informing them that due to rising insurance costs, the mayor and the board would be putting a number of programs now offered through the Rec Department “on hold.” Parents were offered a refund of any registration fees they had paid.

“These programs are incredible,” said Arnold. “We as parents are willing to take on any excess insurance costs if that’s the issue.” Arnold asked the board why it was making the change, given the fact that the Recreation Department budget had been approved in March. “This new administration has promised that no programs would be cut,” she said. “These are children of the community … some of you are fathers and grandfathers. How can you deny them this?”

Mayor Francis Lenahan responded that, according to the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, an insurance and risk-management service offered to municipalities, the risks far outweight the benefits for programs of this kind offered through the village. “We are talking about 30 children … the way I understand it, we are an incorporated village, not a learning institution,” Lenahan said. “The problem exists that these programs are not of a recreational nature.”