Parents accuse Columbia University of "evicting" affordable day care center in Morningside Heights
NEW YORK -- Some parents claim Columbia University "evicted" their children's day care center, one of the only places for quality, affordable child care in Morningside Heights, they said.
The university said the program was mismanaged, but the parents are fighting to keep it open.
For 50 years, Red Balloon's Early Childhood Learning Center leased space from the university for $1 to serve the community.
"We have a box of over 15,000 signatures of people in this community who are furious at Columbia taking away this institution of early childhood learning in the community," said Anna Purna, president of the parent board for Red Balloon. "We take children with special needs, we check children whose families use ACS vouchers, and with 60 percent children of color, this will be absolutely devastating to the families."
Anne Edward and her 4-year-old son, Adonis, rely on the school's special needs program.
"He's considered nonverbal because he has a tracheostomy. So he's had quite an extensive medical history," said Edward.
Parents who aren't subsidized and pay the standard $2,500 monthly rate said Red Balloon is still almost $10,000 less per year than most other daycares in New York City.
"There's just nothing that compares to the Red Balloon," said Sarah Yoshyno, whose 2-year-old daughter, Lailia, attends the center.
"It's affordable, culturally sensitive child care," said Kurt Schreiber, another parent. "And it's been associated with Columbia but now they've decided to evict the day care, and we're trying to fight it."
Friday morning, parents marched through the main gates to deliver petitions to the administration. Advocates said security locked the doors when they reached the library, so they left the box of petitions outside.
Purna said they want the administration to explain why the lease was canceled.
"I think it's money in real estate. They have told us, basically, they want to turn it into a Columbia-owned and operated, revenue-generating preschool for the university," said Purna.
A Columbia University spokesperson told CBS2 the decision was made over concerns with the program's management and there are plans to renovate the space and restore child care with a nonprofit provider.
Here is the full statement:
For us, this is about providing quality childcare for the Columbia University community and our neighbors. We have had concerns about Red Balloon spanning several years that include a lack of consistent communications, effective management, and steady leadership. Paired with persistent under enrollment, we have lost confidence in Red Balloon's ability to provide the safe, stable childcare our community deserves moving forward. We made the difficult decision to terminate its lease, though we extended that timeline once it was apparent the center had not communicated with families in a timely way.
Our goal is to serve more families in our community by renovating the space and restoring childcare with a non-profit provider. In the meantime, we are committed to helping families currently enrolled find interim childcare options that serve their needs.
To read the senior vice provost's statement, click here.