I honestly don’t know how they funded the 0-3 program, but I’d be surprised if it weren’t being sefl-sustaining or somehow underwritten by Decatur. BTW, lots of studies have shown that the best way to improve student achievement is to invest in the early years…pre-k, etc.

Why is it so common and acceptable for Y counselors to yell at kids? My teens still talk about their horrible camp experiences at the Decatur YMCA and that was years ago. They talk about it as it were some long trial that they survived. My husband has never let any of their younger siblings attend any YMCA camps or childcare with the exception of gymnastics (Kim is great).

I wonder if the problem is systemic because I have experienced similar incompetence at the East Lake YMCA. I once found a 3 year- old sobbing alone, petrified, in the bathroom. She had been sent alone by the counselor but the door was too heavy for the child to open to get out of the bathroom. The counselor didn’t know she was missing. The room they were using for this camp was right next to the yoga room and throughout class we could hear the counselor fussing and fussing and fussing at the kids. We stopped class. I spoke with the director. Absurd.

I am happy to see this partership end. Losing a child on a fieldtrip is inexcusable. Several years ago I witnessed problems with the Y staff at College Heights not following basic NAEYC protocol such as putting children on their backs to sleep. how do you forget that? One tour of the 0-3 and I was sure that my chIld would not go there. In contrast, Pre- K was amazing.

Losing NAEYC or having another child endangered would have had Decaturites pointing the finger at CSD and saying that they should have acted sooner. It’s time to amputate the bad leg before the putrification continues.