A capacity crowd filled City Hall Library Wednesday for a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on the proposed conversion of the Plainfield Armory to a Head Start preschool child care facility.
HOPES CAP Inc. purchased the Armory from the state last year. The organization wants to consolidate its programs in three other locations to the Armory, which would permit use of an existing gymnasium and construction of a kitchen. Children would also have an outdoor playground and classrooms would be fitted with smart boards and other state-of-the-art classroom features, presenters said.
The preschool program would serve 270 children, with a staff of 76. Attorney Daniel Bernstein cited numerous laws that define such a program as an "inherently beneficial use."
HOPES President and CEO Ora Welch said the program has been in Plainfield since 2009 and is mandated to provide services "to overcome the causes of poverty" and to help children of low-income families "reach a level of competency to compete or be prepared for kindergarten."
She and other program officials stressed the need for board approval before March 31 in order to meet deadlines for funding the renovations, but the hearing could not be completed Wednesday and a special meeting was set for March 19. The board agreed to meet at 7 p.m. on that date, but the location will be posted on the back door of City Hall that night in a ploy to avoid having to give new public notice of the meeting.
Board members expressed concern about increased traffic and Chairman Scott Belin pointedly asked whether the proposal was for a school, which is not a permitted use. Told it was a preschool, Belin said, "So it's a school."
But Evelyn Motley, Director of early Childhood Programs for the Plainfield school district, said it was licensed as a child care facility. Funding from the district goes to Head Start as a provider of services.
HOPES staffers said use of a 50-passenger bus and nearby public transportation would cut down on traffic to the site. Hours of operation would begin at 7:30 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m., except for parent-teacher conferences or children's programs at night.
Motley praised the Head Start operation as a very collaborative and productive partner of the public schools. She cited its certified teachers and high standards for nutrition, safety and parental involvement as reasons why the program helps "close the achievement gap."
At the special meeting, the board expects to hear from a traffic expert. City staff said a report from the Police Division suggested a one-way pattern of parent drop-offs. Parents will have to park, escort their children into the school, sign in and leave, a process that Head Start staff said would take five or ten minutes.
After the meeting, HOPES board member Corey Brown said he was confident the group would be "victorious," calling the application "a good and solid plan" and "a necessity for the community."
Plaintalker will try to alert readers to a new location for the special meeting as soon as possible.
--Bernice
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Another pre-school-day-care-baby-sitting-big-promise-high-hopes-life-changing-victorious-opportunity-with-nothing-but-the-best-staff-and-highest-standards-all-for-good-'ol-Plainfield.
ReplyDeleteWhy if that's what they're saying then it must be true.
Thank you.
NOT INTERESTED!
Next applicant please.
I am an employee of HOPES, the program applying to use the Armory to unify our Plainfield early childhood Head Start program, and I was also present at the zoning hearing. Although I can’t formally speak on behalf of the HOPES program, I would like to thank you for the efforts you made to provide a comprehensive, objective and unbiased review of the hearing, as a journalist. I also realized that there were many items that, due to the limited space, were not included, and based on the only comment posted, realized that our neighbors and fellow community members still may have an incomplete picture of the proposed use for the space. As clarification, Head Start is a comprehensive preschool program established in 1964 to offer accessible quality childcare and education to children ages three to five years old of all cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Program eligibility requires that 90% of families are below the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Over a million children are served by Head Start programs every year, and, since 1965, nearly 30 million low-income children and their families have received these comprehensive services to increase their school readiness. HOPES was awarded its first Head Start grant in 1966 and has continuously and successfully administered the program for 47 years, currently serving 699 children below the age of 5 in Hudson and Union Counties. As a nearly 5 decade old non-profit that provides services to infants, children, youth, adults and seniors, we were both excited and enthusiastic when we were selected through a competitive process in 2009 to administer the Head Start program that had existed in Plainfield for decades. All 270 children that we serve in Plainfield, and more than 55% of our Plainfield program staff reside in Plainfield. We support staff development and growth, and are proud that in the past 3 years, 37 % of our Head Start staff in Plainfield have reached a higher level of education than when they joined our staff by obtaining Bachelor’s Degrees, Child Development Associates Degrees, and other relevant credentials. Our comprehensive program includes families and provides information and support in education, nutrition and health care for all. Our program provides a learning environment that supports children's growth in language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, physical development and health, social and emotional development and approaches to learning. Each child is provided with activities to foster Language Development, Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Creative Arts and Physical Health & Development. The program supports family well-being and positive parent-child relationships, and their connections to peers and community as advocates and leaders. It is also committed to comprehensive health services for children, families, and, through collaboration and partnerships all children's health and developmental concerns are identified and children and families are linked to an ongoing source of continuous, accessible care. The program also provides breakfast, lunch, and snack daily, providing ¾ of a child’s recommended daily nutritional needs. It also offers parents opportunities and support for growth, so that they can identify their own strengths, needs, interests, and find their own solutions and supports parents as they identify and meet their own goals, nurture the development of children in the context of their family and culture, and advocate for communities that are supportive of children and families. As I mentioned at the start, I do not formally represent HOPES, but having worked with HOPES for over 10 years, and knowing their tradition of complete transparency, I am confident that any of our neighbors and fellow community members would be warmly and enthusiastically welcomed if they were to contact the program and arrange to a visit of the program. Our staff are passionate in their support of the program and the services they provide, and proud to play a role in our children’s lives. Thank you .
ReplyDeleteI did include a link to the HOPES web site so that readers could learn much more than I could fit into a blog post.
DeleteThank you Anonymous employee for your editorial.
ReplyDeletePlease refer to my comments above at 6:07PM.
Next applicant please.