FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 3, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
F.H. nursery school faces potential closure after resignations
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jen_bagcal
Th e Church in the Gardens Nursery
School (CITG) in Forest Hills faces
potential immediate closure, according to
the school’s board of trustees.
Th is Friday is the two-week deadline
given to the board to come up with a
solution, but as of May 1, both the nursery
and UPK programs have classes in
session.
In response to this threat, the group
“CITG Parents” started a petition on
Change.org to get 100 signatures in support
of keeping the school open. Th e
board called for a meeting with parents
this Th ursday, May 3, but some parents
are unsure about what the meeting will
entail.
“It was hard to tell from the email if
this was an idle threat or a true situation
where the school will be shut down. My
instinct is, yes they will close,” said Kate
DeFao, a parent of a CITG pre-K student.
“Th e school’s director, Pauline Elliott,
resigned on March 19. Despite the 40+
days that have passed since her resignation,
the position remains vacant in
violation of the requirements of the
Department of Health and Board of
Education,” according to the petition.
Th e group added that the board needed
to exhibit “good faith eff orts” to fulfi ll
the education director position, or they
would incur additional fees and penalties
from both the DOH and BOE.
Despite the eff orts of parents to remedy
the issue, they have been met with resistance
from the board of trustees. Several
parents have attempted to contact the
board to suggest candidates for director,
but they claim it takes “days” to get
a response or they are ignored altogether.
Another qualifi ed parent volunteered
for the position, but was informed there
would be a “confl ict of interest.”
DeFao added that the parents are
requesting that the board fi nd a suitable
replacement for educational director, and
“at the very least” that their children are
allowed to fi nish the school year uninterrupted.
According to one parent who has been
working closely with the board and wishes
to remain anonymous, the school has
been run autonomously from the church,
and church members and administrators
were surprised to hear about the issues
the school was facing. DeFao said that
she was not clear about why the church
was not informed, but surmises that
the school may have wanted to “operate
in silence” and not inform the church
administrators about their decisions.
“As former director, as well as church
and community member, I am well aware
of the destructive politics taking place
within the church as an issue of maintaining
a damaging management style
and ‘complete trustee control’ over the
church offi ce and facilities,” former CITG
Director Pauline Elliott noted in the petition’s
comments.
CITG Parents also said that they wish to
gain the authority to create a “more benefi
cial reorganization of the school” and
spearhead a committee in the the search
for the school’s new director. Th is responsibility
lies with the board, and the parents
do not have the jurisdiction to make
these decisions.
“Th is is an incredible program, with
exceptional teachers and a loving community
of children and parents and we
want to make sure it remains as part
of our community for many years to
come,” said the CITG Parents. Other parents
who have children enrolled in CITG
echoed similar sentiments on the petition’s
page.
As of May 1, the petition has garnered
138 signatures from supporters. Th e link
for the petition can be found at https://
www.change.org/p/citg-board-of-trustees
help-us-save-the-church-in-the-gardens
nursery-upk-school.
“We want to hear solutions from the
board and want to feel that they’re as
invested in fi nding as we are. If we are
told that there is no one to fi ll the role, we
will continue to fi ght,” DeFao said.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
The Church in the Garden School in Forest Hills could potentially be closed until a new education
director is found.
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