President David Skorton announced Monday that the University would not terminate its contract with Cornell Child Care Center’s current provider, Bright Horizons Family Solutions.

Skorton’s decision disregards a recommendation issued by a Faculty Senate ad-hoc committee, eliciting responses of both relief and confusion from community members.

In a public memo, Skorton mentioned increased parental support and steady, substantial improvements since January as reasons to continue Bright Horizon’s contract.

On Aug. 21, the Faculty Senate ad-hoc committee that reviewed the center cited an unsustainable budget model, a poor management team unresponsive to parent concerns, a failure to meet New York State regulations, and a high annual turnover in its teaching staff as reasons to sever ties with Bright Horizons.

The University Assembly’s Child Care Services subcommittee endorsed the Faculty Senate’s decision, though the University Assembly voted on Oct. 27 to advocate that Cornell continue with Bright Horizons until the contract ends in August 2013.

The Faculty Senate’s ad-hoc committee asked to meet with Skorton in an Oct. 25 memo obtained by The Sun, but he did not respond to the request, according to members of the committee.

The University declined to comment on Skorton’s reasoning for breaking with the Faculty Senate’s recommendation.

“[Skorton’s] memo stands on its own and represents the resolution of an issue that is of great importance to the University,” said Claudia Wheatley, Interim Deputy University Spokesperson.

Skorton said in a memo to the University Assembly on May 7 that Cornell “will actively pursue alternative child care service providers” if key factors such as teacher and family turnover rates, number and severity of state licensing violations, and parent and teacher satisfaction measures do not significantly improve.Skorton said in Monday’s memo that the provost will control 10 spots at the center to attract faculty and staff to the University. Additionally, an advisory group of faculty, staff, students, and postdoctoral associates will counsel Skorton twice each year on child care, elder care, and other family-related, work-life matters.

“My personal goal is that the [childcare center] will be widely recognized as an excellent program, serving with distinction and professionalism the needs of our campus community,” Skorton wrote in Monday’s memo. “I believe we are on our way to achieving that aspiration [and] the campus now needs to come together.”

Many parents see the resolution as a sign of stability and agree that the center has improved since the Department of Human Resources began providing increased financial and management support last spring.

“Bright Horizons’ administration has definitely done a better job communicating in the last three months,” said David Infanger grad, who has a child in the program. “I’m excited that we’ll have a continuity of care in classrooms for our son.” 

The center, however, has accrued seven more safety violations in the last two months, and teacher turnover rates will likely end up at 55 to 70 percent for the year, double the national average of 30 percent, according to University Assembly reports.

For some parents, Skorton’s decision came as a surprise.

“The process wasn’t particularly transparent,” Prof. Sydney Van Morgan, sociology, said. “There’s a serious mismatch between Cornell’s usually participatory, democratic model and the kind where decisions are made by functionaries in Human Resources."

Prof. Stephen Morgan, sociology, said he put his own child in the center during its first 17 months, but left because he found the service unsatisfactory.

Many community members worry that Skorton’s discussions with parents and the petitions signed by 129 clients and 39 teachers could misrepresent feelings about the Center. 

“The people who were most unhappy left a long time ago, so you have to be careful drawing conclusions from the center’s clients,” said Prof. Marianella Casasola, human development, and co-chair of the Faculty Senate committee.

“While many do support the Center, the idea that parents and teachers were united and completely against the Faculty Senate’s recommendation just doesn’t square with the facts,” Morgan said. 

Infanger said Bright Horizons has improved the quantity and quality of its client communication. The center has begun promoting more field trips to Cornell facilities such the Plantations, Apple Orchards, and Entomology Lab, following University recommendations.

The center has also cut down on moving children from room to room and passed the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s certification with help from the Department of Human Resources and temporary staff increases to meet the association’s teacher-to-child standards, according to the Facult Senate report.

The CCCC still operates at a growing financial deficit, however, according to the Faculty Senate committee report.

“The improvements are substantial, but not enough to say the center has turned itself around,” Morgan said. “It’s still at best fighting to be the third or fourth best center in town, and if Cornell is spending this much money we should have the best.”

Skorton did not address specific management plans in the memo. However, he declined to introduce sliding-scale tuition, as the Faculty Senate proposed.

“It was a common-sense suggestion where faculty were willing to shoulder higher tuition to make the Center more affordable to lower-paid staff and postdocs,” Brenda Marston, chair of the University Assembly’s child care services subcommittee and library curator, said. “I have some concerns whether the administration wants to consider advisory committees after going through this process.”

The Division of Human Resources pulled its representative from subcommittee meetings two months ago because the department was busy preparing a confidential report on the center for the administration, according to Marston.

“It’s curious that HR, whose job it is to care about child care, couldn’t send a staff person during the time when debate was crucial and everyone on the subcommittee was volunteering beyond work responsibilities,” she said.

Community members who have both approved and disapproved of the administration’s decisions, however, have pledged to help the center succeed.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing progress at the center and continued support for its many good teachers,” Casasola said. “I think we should all stay focused on the positives and work to make the center the best it can be.”