December 22, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 50
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Parents Hemalee Patel (in scarf) and Jim Findlay (center) talk to former teacher Eloise White outside the now-closed Brooklyn Childrens Academy Pre-School on Dean Street last Tuesday night, where they claim they found unsafe conditions.
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del.icio.usA pre-school on Dean Street remains shuttered this week after allegedly unsafe building conditions that led the city to temporarily close it last month.
The Brooklyn Children’s Academy Preschool has lost all 42 of its students and its staff, according to parents and teachers at the troubled school. A message on the executive director’s voice mail says he will be away until Jan. 3.
Now parents are fighting to get reimbursed for tuition and teachers are dealing with bounced paychecks.
“I’m definitely freaked out because I’ll have a court case against me for trying to cash a check,” said Colleen Walsh, who taught at the pre-school for two months.
The uproar began when parents dropped off their children at the pre-school’s new location at 25 Dean St. on Nov. 7, finding a building they said had no heating, only one working bathroom, exposed electrical outlets and peeling paint. (The Department of Buildings has since found 17 violations.)
Two days after that not-so-grand opening, the city shut down the pre-school for operating without a license.
Parents were angry.
“They jeopardized the safety and well-being of my kid,” said Amy Huggans.
Administrators fought back, saying parents have overstated the flaws of the Dean Street building.
“The things they were complaining about were not hazardous,” said Andy Lewis, the pre-school’s executive director.
“It was just not aesthetically pleasing. It was not a security concern, it was a visual concern.”
The preschool had reopened with a temporary permit at Our Lady of Lebanon cathedral on Remsen Street, but only three children were attending before they dropped out.
The director said at the time that the pre-school hoped to return to 25 Dean St. by the end of January after inspections by the Buildings, Fire and Health departments.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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