Alexa Schlechter is one Wilton parent of a former “On School Road” child who is upset about how the Town of Wilton’s Parks & Recreation-run preschool program was suddenly closed just one week before its scheduled start date.
“Obviously somebody dropped the ball. I honestly can’t imagine, I just don’t know what they were thinking.”
‘On School Road,’ familiarly known as “Miss Sharon’s” program, was scheduled to have opened today. One full week ago Monday, Parks and Rec director Steve Pierce sent an email to parents notifying them that because the program was not licensed, the CT Department of Public Health had said the school could not open.
Over the past weekend emails were exchanged within the “On School Road” parent community, asking parents to send an email out to First Selectman Bill Brennan. The subject line was titled, “How do we support Sharon Cowley’s On School Road Program?”
The email encourages parents to contact Bill Brennan and the Board of Selectmen to support renewed steps to secure licensing for preschool programming at Comstock and to create “an action plan to accomplish this task.”
One of the parents on the email distribution list was a member of the Board of Selectmen, Ted Hoffstatter, whose son was enrolled in the program. He ‘replied all’ to the parents on the email list, writing:
“For information, Sharon did indeed submit paperwork to Town Hall in pursuit of certification last year. I have been following the process for some time, in hopes that the Town would get the paperwork to the State asap [sic]. Regrettably, it has yet to be submitted. Thus, the process was never completed, and Sharon, our teachers, and our children are in this unfortunate situation.”
Editor’s Note: Read GOOD Morning Wilton’s interview with Ted Hoffstatter about Miss Sharon’s “On School Road Closing, by clicking here.
Questioning the lack of communication
Schlechter isn’t happy with the way the town has handled things—she’s disappointed with the fact that the licensing process came to a halt at Town Hall after Cowley tried to kickstart the process; she’s also disappointed with the way the town has communicated with families who are affected.
“It probably wasn’t that they just sat on the paperwork, they probably did something with it after Miss Sharon submitted it. But she filed the paperwork last year. Somewhere between start and finish this got dropped, and the people paying for it are the parents, the kids, the teachers and Sharon,” she said, adding, “The fact that just one email was sent, and that’s the only communication that we’ve gotten about this program that was so abruptly closed is unacceptable. There’s just a lack of transparency. Clearly somebody messed up.”
Schlechter, a public school teacher, is concerned about the teachers who worked at the preschool. “They’re left without a job. All of those parents are going to find a place someplace else for their children. So if the program—I’d like to say when the program—is reinstated, it doesn’t mean they’re going to get their families back. This year, next year, they’re going to have to rebuild that program from scratch.”
Schlechter’s children took part in the summer camp at “On School Road,” and her daughter was in the two’s program last year. “I’ve been around teachers my entire career. The women who teach in that program, I am so incredibly grateful at how they loved my children—and not just as educators to students. My daughter’s two’s teacher cried when she hugged me goodbye on the last day, and she still reaches out to check up on her. They are people who love this community, who love their students. This type of program is irreplaceable. This is part of our community.”
***
The email circulated among “On School Road” parents asked them to contact officials to support reinstating the program. It included a suggested “sample email” (below) as well as sharing “your own experiences so the town leadership understands the impact of this exceptional program.”
Dear Mr. Brennan and the Board of Selectman:
I am writing you as a parent who has participated in Sharon’s On School Road Program. My child(ren) has participated in the pre-school program, camp and art classes and our family has had a wonderful experience. Sharon Cowley and her team of teachers are amazing educators and has prepared my child(ren) for kindergarten in a way that has exceeded my expectations. Sharon’s team is smart, kind and nurturing and my child LOVED every minute she/he/they had in the On School Road Program. The closure of the program has hurt not only my child(ren) but the community of Wilton.
I am asking you to please support moving forward with a day care license so that the program can resume in its entirety. I would like to understand the action plan you have in place to accomplish this and what role the parents and other members of the community can play to help facilitate this process.
I look forward to hearing from you and celebrating the reopening of this program with Sharon Cowley as Director.