Menlo Park city staff says Belle Haven child care worker Vanessa Carlisle will be transferred to the other side of town in the next week, but parents with children in the program, many of whom call Ms. Carlisle “the heart and soul” of the neighborhood’s child care services, say that won’t happen without a really big fight.
If parents don’t get their way, look for petitions, picketing, and “good old civil disobedience,” said Marcia Dore-Perez, an East Palo Alto resident with two children in the Belle Haven child care program.
Ms. Carlisle, a program assistant at the Belle Haven child care center, is being moved — against her will — to the Burgess program on Feb. 5.
“The fight is still pending, but I don’t want to go, and that’s final,” said Ms. Carlisle, who has helped provide child care to the largely low-income community for 23 years. When asked if she would refuse the transfer, Ms. Carlisle said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Outraged parents have sent e-mails to the City Council asking council members to stop the transfer, arguing that moving Ms. Carlisle will be detrimental to the program.
Ms. Dore-Perez said parents plan on packing the Jan. 30 council meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Menlo Park Senior Center at 110 Terminal Ave., in the Belle Haven neighborhood, to plead their case.
Why Vanessa?
Barbara Santos George, the city’s new community services director, said Ms. Carlisle’s transfer is a matter of staff-to-children ratios.The Belle Haven program has too many staff members, and the Burgess program doesn’t have enough, she said.
She noted that the Burgess program needs a program assistant — the position Ms. Carlisle currently fills in Belle Haven — so Ms. Carlisle was the logical choice.
“Change and growth can be a very good thing, and I think that will be the case with [Ms. Carlisle],” Ms. Santos George said. “The kids in the Belle Haven program will still have the rest of the staff they’re accustomed to seeing every day.”
But parents are baffled why the city is so intent on transferring Ms. Carlisle, especially during the middle of the school year, and at a time when neighboring East Palo Alto is being hit with a wave of violence.
“[Ms. Carlisle] has a lifelong commitment to this community, and she teaches that level of commitment to our children,” said Ms. Dore-Perez. “The more opportunities kids have to learn and be inspired, the more likely they won’t join a gang. We have this violent spree hitting the community, and [the city] is pulling an adult out that makes a difference. … The city doesn’t get it — the east side and the west side are different worlds.”
Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 715, which represents Ms. Carlisle and other city employees, say they are also puzzled by the city’s decision.
“We’re very concerned that transferring Vanessa out of the program that she’s been working at for so long in Belle Haven will leave a very negative impact on the community,” said Jonathan Wright, a worksite organizer with SEIU Local 715.
Council support
Belle Haven parents have at least one council member ready to speak on their behalf.“I’m committed to supporting the [Belle Haven] community,” said Councilman Andy Cohen. “I’ll go with the people versus the administration.”
Mr. Cohen said it is the council’s policy to avoid cutting Belle Haven services, and moving Ms. Carlisle would be the equivalent of a service cut to the child care program.
