Preschool under siege after unannounced closure

by John Tawa

A Manhattan Beach pre-school plagued by mismanagement closed abruptly Monday morning and re-opened Wednesday morning, despite protests from angry parents who questioned the propriety of both actions.

The South Bay Center School, a subsidiary of the South Bay Center for Counseling, was formed 15 years ago as an alternative preschool with intensive counseling services, in response to allegations of abuse at the McMartin Preschool. The school serves children ages two to five at the Manhattan Beach Unified School District-owned Ladera school site.

On Saturday, South Bay Center School parents received a registered letter from the Center's Executive Director Colleen Mooney. Mooney's letter told parents that the school had no choice but to close effective Monday because it could not meet a May 22 deadline imposed by the Community Care Licensing arm of the California Department of Social Services to produce the qualifications for the school's interim director, Karen McHenry. "The suspension of operations will be indefinite," the letter said.

Monday afternoon, however, the District Manager for Community Care Licensing said that the letter misrepresented the facts. A May 15 corrective action with the school required it to comply within seven days. But closing the school wasn't the sole recourse if compliance could not be effected, said District Manager Sergio Ramirez.

"The bottom line was that this was a voluntary closure," he added. "The executive director could have called and asked for an extension of time. But, without consulting us, she did this on her own.

"Closing the facility is an extreme measure when what was in question was the qualifications of an interim director."

Monday night, Mooney faced an irate crowd of more than 60 parents.

Mooney explained that on May 15, the school was cited for numerous violations, including ant infestation, children being left unattended, soiled carpets and teachers not being cleared criminally through fingerprint checks. She said that corrective plans were implemented for each violation with the exception of an issue involving the director's qualifications. McHenry has a degree in social work from Arizona State University, but her coursework may not be recognized as sufficient to assume a pre-school directorship in California, where at least 50 units of coursework in the field and a Certificate of Administration is required.

Mooney reiterated her belief that this issue forced her to close the school.

"The impression we had was on the issue of the director, that was a non-negotiable issue," Mooney said.

Mooney then said she spoke to the Licensing Division Monday and learned that she was mistaken.

"What I've been told by Licensing is it is possible to create an interim arrangement to keep the school open and create an interim arrangement while we figure out Karen's status," she said.

The explanation did not sit well with parents.

"You don't close a school down based on an impression," said one parent. "You let them physically lock the doors, not you on a Saturday."

"So many people have the appropriate credentials. It is ludicrous for you to expect us to believe that's a reason to close the school," said another parent.

"I don't trust you with the health and welfare of our children," said a third parent.

The lack of trust in Mooney has a short but fairly involved history. In February, Mooney fired then-director Christine Saldana, who was well-liked by a majority of parents. Parents were told that Saldana left to care for an ill relative. Mooney told many parents for the first time Monday that she had indeed fired Saldana and replaced her with McHenry, a teacher at the school.

A mass exodus of teachers followed Saldana's departure. At least five teachers left the school, which had approximately 60 children in attendance. This fueled concerns by parents that their children weren't being properly supervised.

Two teacher's aides were cited May 15 for failing to be cleared criminally through a fingerprint search before interacting with the children,

"Given that this school started because of the McMartin fiasco, this makes me sick," one parent said.

"As teachers walked out the door, they weren't replacing them," said Kelly Warner, whose four-year-old son attended the school.

One full-time teacher, two part-time teachers and four teacher's aides were hired to take the place of those who left. That is, until all remaining teachers were fired Friday.

At Monday's meeting, Mooney said that the school had secured a 30-day extension from the Licensing Division to produce McHenry's qualifications and that the school would be re-opening Wednesday. Mooney said that all of the teachers had been asked to return, a statement that surprised the three staff members in attendance.

They said they would have to think about whether it was wise to return.

Anita Holt, a teacher with the qualifications to be school director, was leaning against coming back. "You can't fix what's been done," she said.

The other two staff members at the meeting, April hires Kristine Bartlett and Samantha Fleischner also did not expect to come back.

Indeed, the overwhelming sentiment Monday among parents was to explore pre-school options elsewhere rather than return to a school with administrators they did not trust and an uncertain teaching staff.

"What/who will be here for our kids on Wednesday?" one parent demanded to know.

On Tuesday, Mooney and the returning staff - McHenry, consultants Kelly Hopkins (Mooney's daughter) and America Bateman, teachers Rachel Salmon and Dona Verduzco and aide Michelle Travis met with approximately 20 parents who were considering sending their children back to the school on Wednesday.

Mooney told the parents she wanted to keep McHenry as director, a departure from what she said the night before, when she said she wanted to search for a full-time director. The parents got Mooney to agree to make a decision on a director within 30 days. They also got her to agree to commit to running the school at least through the end of the summer. That means renewing the lease at Ladera, which expires June 30.

No member of the South Bay Center for Counseling's Board of Directors was present at Monday's meeting. According to parent Lee Hudspeth, two members of the Board, which oversees the school's operations, had no idea that the school had closed, when contacted Tuesday.

Some parents called for Mooney's dismissal. They applauded her statement Monday that she did not want to run the school anymore.

Her realization that she needs someone else to run the school is important and will determine whether the school survives, said parent John Syzdek.

In the face of all the turmoil, Mooney remained determined to take whatever steps were necessary to get the school back on track.

"Until now, the school has represented some of the best thinking and commitment of the agency," she told the parents Monday night. "We clearly are struggling. We have to invest the resources to get back." ER