Students, staff and parents urge Hudson County to pause closure of County Prep's 'Bella Babies' childcare center

Teachers, students and parents spoke at the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners meeting to urge the board to halt the planned closure of the County Prep High School childcare center known as Bella Babies.

"My name is Diane Marie Bello, and I am the early childhood education teacher at County Prep High School," said Diane Marie Bello, who described the center as a place that provides hands-on learning, supports families and helps students earn childcare credentials. Bello said the center serves both students training for childcare careers and families who rely on the service.

Jasmine McTague, a professor at Hudson County Community College who teaches the CDA program, told commissioners that the childcare enables students to complete required practicum hours and graduate with credentials that lead to employment. "Our students did speak at their board of ed, but unfortunately, it was shut down quickly," McTague said, and she urged the county to help identify next steps and support students' ability to finish their training.

Multiple speakers and students explained the program's benefits and the immediate consequences of closure. Student Martha Henriques said the center is a central component of her major and that losing it would force a curricular reconstruction for future classes. Aria Thatch, a freshman, said the program serves about 60 students in the early-childhood major and cited a petition of nearly 500 signatures asking the board to reconsider.

Board discussion established two numbers raised during the public record: Bello and some educators described roughly 60 students in the training program (students who take coursework and clinical hours), while another commissioner noted the daycare currently serves about 13 enrolled children, which officials cited as part of the fiscal evaluation. Commissioners and members of the public disputed whether administrators had explored alternatives such as expanded enrollment, employee vouchers, or grant funding that might preserve the center.

County staff told commissioners they would deliver a memo with the factual basis for the school system's decision. "We had a memo prepared to go to you today; we ran out of time. I will get a memo to the chairperson and the educational chair, probably sometime tomorrow, to lay out the questions and give you facts of what we looked at or what the board looked at before they made this decision," a county staff member said.

Responding to the speakers, a commissioner asked that the board place a resolution on the next agenda asking that the school not close the daycare for 90 days to give the county and school officials time to develop a cost-neutral plan. "I'm gonna ask that we put forth a resolution asking that they do not close that day care for a period of 90 days to allow us to work with the school management as well as the staff there to develop a plan that will make the facility cost neutral," the commissioner said.

The board did not vote on a final outcome at the meeting; members agreed to convene an education committee meeting and to circulate the staff memo. The next procedural step is for staff to circulate the promised memo and for the commissioners to consider the proposed 90-day resolution at a future meeting.