Nursery School Permit Plan Draws Outcry
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Several religious groups are fighting a health department proposal that for the first time would require permits for some faith-based nursery schools.
Representatives of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Agudath Israel of America, among others, voiced their concerns at a public hearing April 19 on the health department’s proposed amendments to article 47 of the city’s health code, which regulates child care services.
The measures, which officials said were designed to improve child safety, would require about 500 nursery programs to obtain city permits, meet certain education standards among teachers, and conduct criminal background checks on their employees for the first time. Currently, religious preschool programs that are attached to elementary schools are exempt from permit requirements, thanks to their longstanding “No Permit Required” status.
Advocates have said the proposals are in line with efforts the past few years to improve safety at child care centers. Opponents have said the changes would place undue financial burden on them and possibly force some of them to close.
“The concept of permitting is offensive to us because the permit process encompasses many things that relate to what actually takes place in the religious classroom,” an executive vice president of Agudath Israel, David Zweibel, said. “Who is fit to be a teacher? How many students can there be in the classroom? Things that go to the autonomy of the educational experience, which to us in the religious community is a matter of religious freedom.”
Acknowledging the opposition, the health department a day before the public hearing announced an extension of the public comment period through July 30 in an effort to work with the community, officials said. “We are considering all comments very carefully and think important points have been made. This is precisely what the comment period is for,” a spokesman for the department, Andrew Tucker, said.
At last week’s hearing, City Council Member David Yassky, who represents parts of Brooklyn, joined religious advocates in voicing concern over the proposed changes. “The First Amendment protects religious institutions against overregulation by the government. The Department of Health simply should not be regulating religious education,” he said.
