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Leaders and parents urge board to spare Mill Hill preschool from state cuts
Summary
At public comment, Mill Hill Child and Family Development leaders said proposed state-driven reductions would cut three of seven classrooms (about 45 seats), disproportionately affecting the neighborhood’s only walkable preschool and its wraparound services.
Trenton — Leaders and parents from Mill Hill Child and Family Development urged the Trenton Board of Education on May 28 to reconsider a reduction that Mill Hill says would remove three preschool classrooms and about 45 seats from the program.
Jigna Rao, CEO of Mill Hill Child and Family Development, told the board Mill Hill has operated in Trenton for 55 years and serves many vulnerable families. “43% of the total reduction is falling on 1 preschool,” Rao said, arguing the state’s cuts are being implemented in a way that disproportionately affects her program.
Rao said Mill Hill’s preschool is the only program within walking distance for many families, that 87% of its students qualify for the federal school‑meal program, and that the program offers wraparound services such as therapeutic interventions and an outpatient clinic that families could not easily replace elsewhere. She said Mill Hill had collected about 450 petitions opposing the reductions.
Other Mill Hill speakers reinforced the point. Parent Charisma Howard described improved outcomes for her child and said the center is family-centered and local; Gina Vasquez, Mill Hill director, and Tamara Nuzzi, identified in the sign-in as a Mill Hill official, emphasized the program’s therapeutic services, the number of families served and the barrier that lost seats would create for parents who walk their children to school.
Board Chair noted public comments are taken in order and that district staff and the board will receive the material and respond at the next regular meeting. No formal vote or board action on Mill Hill’s request occurred at the May 28 meeting.
Mill Hill asked the board to take an equitable approach to state reductions and to avoid concentrating cuts on a single community provider; the board said the superintendent and staff will review public comments and provide a response at a subsequent meeting.
