SAFE at Our Place child care; a program in transition
Published on June 23rd, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - Parents and teachers are questioning the leadership and quality of the SAFE at Our Place child care program which has been a fixture in Stoneham for over a decade.
"This was a great program," said parent Jennifer Genest of Maple Street.
SAFE is one of three programs under the umbrella of the Multi-service Education, Learning and Development Program (M.E.L. D.) based at 53 Central St. Children go to SAFE, via school buses, after class ends, and the staff of SAFE watches, entertains and educates the children until parents can pick the youngsters up after work hours.
The Dilemma
"We are not confident in the judgment of the director," said SAFE teacher Laurie Burns. She taught her last day Monday.
"Any program is only as good as its teachers," said Genest.
She has two children in the program, ages six and seven, whom she plans to withdraw.
More than 100 children attend the program, from 60 to 80 a day. Ten teachers and teacher aides watch over and instruct the elementary-school-age children.
Teachers Laurie Burns, Erica Wark, Carol Nocella and Susan Peters have resigned and left the program within the month of June.
Doreen Moore, co-founder of SAFE and chairman of the volunteer board of directors of M.E.L.D., said the concerns and controversy are a result of personal differences and the inherent confusion of an organization with high turnover.
When the previous Director of SAFE, Karen Popken, took over in September of 1998, the executive director of the program left, Moore said. According to Moore, Popken took on the more extensive duties of coordinating all three programs as well as focusing on the day to day operations of SAFE. Then she became pregnant .
"Karen (Popken) was forced to reduce her schedule during the pregnancy for health reasons and delegate administrative authority to the staff," Moore said. "Our accountant advised against this, but we wanted to keep the program going."
Eventually Karen left the program, and Lombara was hired from a pool of 25 candidates as Executive Director of M.E.L.D.
Only three candidates had the proper qualifications to be considered, and the board chose Lombara.
Burns and other teachers who chose not to be named said they wanted the board to conduct a more thorough search.
"They only looked at three people," Burns said.
Moore said the school age child care business is new and unfamiliar to many, even those in the education field.
Lombara got the M.E.L.D. Executive Director position but was expected to fill the operational void at the head of SAFE.
According to Burns and others, Lombara was not prepared to deal with the children and parents on a day to day basis.
"She forgot kids names and who called, and the wrong people would be on the busing lists," Burns said. "She also forgot to count heads before a field trip."
Moore responded by saying that in her experience the teachers do the head count, but this confusion is symptomatic of a program where roles and responsibilities are no longer clearly defined.
"She (Lombara) was hired to look after the money not the kids," Moore said.
But the staff had grown to work together, sharing responsibility across financial and educational boundaries. One teacher described the working relationship under Popken as "like a family."
"Some people are forgetting that this is for and about the children," former teacher Erica Wark said.
Moore said that Popken left no action plan for Lombara, who was forced to figure out how to work in a nontraditional setting on the fly.
"I think Ella (Lombara) made some mistakes, but she was under a lot of stress," Moore said. "No child was ever in danger."
The discontent of the staff has spread to parents, who say they are worried about safety.
"Ella used poor judgement in waiting to call the parents after the heating system went down last winter," parent Sarah Thain said.
"She dead-bolted a kitchen door instead of getting a lock repaired," Genest said. "I question her judgement."
What now?
According to Moore, the board is still looking to fill the SAFE Director position to restore normalcy to the program.
"We sent out 200 letters to colleges looking for candidates for the job as Director of SAFE and got no response," Moore said.
Lombara, who has over two decades of experience in child care administration, will continue as the M.E.L.D. Executive Director.
"State law requires we have someone with her credentials to keep the program open," Moore said.
Meanwhile teachers are leaving, and parents are taking children out of the program.
In an effort to cut down on staff turnover and attract a new SAFE Director to insure the program runs as it should, Lombara has requested funds for staff raises.
The teachers who left this week after working at SAFE for years with no raises viewed the raises as a slap in the face. And parents became angry about the resulting need for fee increases.
"This is just how it has been for Ella," Moore said. "She baked the staff cookies one day, and they didn't like them.
"The board is all volunteers, and we are getting to the point where we might say it's over," Moore said.
Teachers, parents, Moore, and Lombara agree that things are not working as they should at SAFE.
But a consultant is being hired, teachers will be paid more, the search continues for a new SAFE Director, and as Genest said, "This was a great program."
Moore thinks the program can again be a great resource for working parents.
If not, Genest said, the YMCA is opening a similar after school program next year.
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