The North East Community Center's Early Learning Program will close its doors on Dec. 19, NECC's Executive Director Christine Sergent said in an interview with The News on Monday, Nov. 10. Leaders of the nonprofit said increased costs across every program led to a difficult decision to shutter the daycare until further notice.
MILLERTON – The North East Community Center announced Friday that it is suspending its Early Learning Program, citing mounting financial challenges in running a daycare — a decision that came suddenly for both parents and staff.
Families learned of the decision in an email from NECC’s Executive Director Christine Sergent, which was also posted to the NECC website. Staff members were notified on Thursday and Friday. The news came as a shock to all.
Sergent said the burdens of running a childcare center had become unsustainable. “Like many childcare programs, we were facing ongoing challenges, but we kept fighting to keep it open,” she said. “We felt it was worth it and wanted to make it work.”
NECC Board Chair Irene Banning said the decision came after months of difficult deliberation. “With rising costs across the board, the loss of public funding for other programs, and anticipated increases in healthcare premiums – it became impossible to continue running this program. And it broke our hearts,” she said.
Banning noted that establishing a childcare program had long been one of NECC’s goals. “People worked incredibly hard to make it happen,” she said. “But the economics of childcare are, I think, insurmountable – even for a nonprofit.”
Many parents said they understood the financial realities but were frustrated by the way the closure was communicated, describing it as abrupt and lacking transparency.
Finegan Ferreboeuf, a resident of Ancram whose child has been enrolled in the toddler room since May, said the decision could have been handled more thoughtfully and done less harm to families, staff and children.
“I think all of the families involved understand that the early childcare landscape is incredibly difficult, and people are aware that there is a loss of funding at NECC,” Ferreboeuf said. “Where we feel disappointed is that we weren’t allowed to be involved in any of this. There was a real lack of communication with the community and the stakeholders.”
Sergent and Banning said a combination of factors led to the difficult decision.
When Dutchess County stopped accepting new applications for childcare subsidies in early September — citing high demand and limited funding — the ELP was already facing declining enrollment as many preschoolers transitioned to universal public pre-K programs.
The resulting loss of tuition and subsidy revenue created a severe financial strain, prompting a series of emergency board meetings to evaluate the situation and explore potential solutions.
“The board spent several weeks analyzing a variety of strategies to avoid closure,” Sergent said. “But by the end of October, it became clear that we couldn’t save the program.”
Between June and mid-September, NECC also learned it would lose $350,000 in grant funding and earmarked donations. Sergent said roughly 60% to 65% of NECC’s overall budget comes from grants, 20% to 25% from donations, and 15% to 20% from fees and registrations — a structure that leaves nonprofit organizations vulnerable when any single stream falters.
Sergent and Banning added that the organization is also contending with rising costs across every department, from insurance and utilities to staff salaries and rent.
NECC continues to serve many of the community’s most vulnerable residents through its food, transportation, and case management programs — all facing rising demand and higher costs.
“We’re working with the county and others to make sure there’s food available for people impacted by SNAP reductions and the rising cost of living,” Sergent said. “Families are having to make impossible choices — paying for rent, keeping a vehicle to get to work — and food doesn’t always make the cut.”
While parents expressed deep appreciation for NECC and its staff, many were disappointed by the lack of consultation before the decision was made.
Ferreboeuf described a tight-knit community, saying that parents would have rallied to help keep the program afloat, even if temporarily. “The way the announcement was made was disappointing and feels antithetical to the fabric and character of NECC,” she said.
One former ELP parent said NECC’s limited marketing and sparse social media outreach suggested missed opportunities to boost enrollment and awareness about the program.
“In my mind, there was more that the organization could have been doing to fill spots,” said Hannah Schiller of Pine Plains, whose daughter entered the program at its inception three years ago and left at the end of the summer to join a public Pre-K.
Schiller also noted the strong parent community, saying “a lot of parents have skills that could have contributed to the support of the program.” She said that her daughter loved her time there and the program provided a critical need for working families. “We’re a working family so it was crucial to us to have a nearby daycare that we could afford.”
Emily Redmond, who has been the ELP Director for the past year and a half, criticized the private nature of the decision. She added that she and her colleagues would have valued the opportunity to discuss potential solutions before the decision was finalized.
“I want to be clear that I believe deeply in NECC’s mission,” Redmond said, “The work they do is vital to this community and should be supported.”
Redmond told The News that she was fired for alerting her staff about the impending closure after a Thursday meeting with Banning and Sergent. NECC leadership had planned to deliver the news themselves on Friday during a full ELP staff meeting. Redmond said she chose to inform her staff early so they could hear the news directly from someone they trusted — and have the chance to leave “with their heads up” and say goodbye to the children in their care.
Three staff members have lost their jobs, with the center scheduled to shut down completely by mid-December.
“I knew the position I was putting myself in,” she said. “Maybe it would have bought me another four weeks of employment, but then I’d be gone too. So I had a choice — I could be a loyal rule follower until the end, or I could go out supporting my staff the way I felt they truly needed to be supported in that moment. I chose the latter.”
She said the impact on the youngest stakeholders – the children enrolled at the ELP – should not be taken lightly. “Anyone familiar with child development understands how critical it is for young children to have the chance to process loss and say goodbye.”
Kim Yarnell, a current ELP parent, described Redmond as “a phenomenal leader,” adding that families “can’t say enough about the work she was doing to make the program healthy and successful.”
Yarnell said she doesn’t place blame on NECC as an organization but sees the closure as part of a broader statewide and national childcare crisis.
Despite the closure notice, the ELP will remain open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Dec. 19 for families who still need care. The program will operate with a reduced staff until all children are placed in new programs or employees transition to other jobs.
“Families are not being turned away today or tomorrow,” Sergent said. “We are staying open through December for anyone that needs us.”
Additionally, NECC is partnering with the Child Care Council of Dutchess and Putnam Counties, which helps families find available and licensed childcare placements.
Yarnell – who relies on child care and said she was only able to move to Millerton because the ELP opened three years ago – immediately contacted the Child Care Council, learning that only one licensed facility within 15 miles of Millerton currently has an opening. Most other childcare providers have waitlists.
Banning acknowledged that the closure has been deeply painful for everyone involved.
“Once the decision was made, we needed to create and implement a process that treated all stakeholders with the utmost respect,” she said, noting that the announcement of the closure didn’t go as planned, given all the moving pieces. “That created additional anxiety and distress for everyone — the staff and the families — and we’re truly sorry for that.”
The Millerton Village offices on North Elm Avenue.
“I urge you to be public in showing our community your moral compasses,” Millerton resident Eliot Ramos said. “Please show us that we have elected people who really do care.”
MILLERTON — Immigration enforcement became a central focus of the Village Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, Jan. 27, which drew a group of residents who called on officials to take a public stance in support of vulnerable community members.
Following routine agenda items, community members used the public comment period to urge the board to publicly oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and affirm protections for local residents. It marked the fourth time in eight months that residents have appeared before the village board to urge action on immigration enforcement, with no significant action or policy change to date.
Mayor Jenn Najdek declined to comment following the meeting and would not say whether the board plans further discussions or next steps. Other trustees — Deputy Mayor Matthew Hartzog, Matt Soleau, and Daivd Sherman — did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
In contrast, Trustee Katie Cariello — who is several months into her first term on the board — made her position clear during the meeting and in a follow-up statement, saying she appreciated the group for holding local leaders accountable.
Cariello also acknowledged Joe Olenik’s dual roles as police chief and highway superintendent.
“This week's been really tough for lots of reasons,” Cariello said. “I just want to say, I hope we can keep snow out, and hopefully keep ICE out.”
In a statement, Cariello invited residents to continue the conversation by emailing her at katie.cariello@millertonny.gov.
“I heard our Police Chief say that he will uphold the law, and I believe that to be true,” Cariello said of the dialogue that occurred between Olenik and residents. “And I heard all of us say that we care about our neighbors and want everyone to feel safe.”
The village is not required to respond to public comments, but members of the board and the police chief engaged in a conversation with attendees and answered questions about hypothetical scenarios that could play out in Millerton.
Olenik said it is highly unlikely that ICE would notify the Millerton Police Department of their plans or request assistance given its part-time status and lack of involvement in immigration enforcement.
“If our police officers are present and another officer — whether federal, state, or sheriff’s department — was breaking the law and abusing somebody against the law, we would have to take action,” he said, though it was unclear whether that action would be through force in the moment or through a report and investigation.
“We treat all our people in this community with dignity, respect, and compassion,” Olenik added. “I won’t accept anything less than that from my officers.”
Nine residents used the public comment portion of the meeting to voice their concerns about what they described as increasingly violent and deadly immigration enforcement nationwide.
Resident Eliot Ramos, who has previously addressed the village board on the issue, read from prepared remarks, explaining that she was "extremely distressed and emotional.”
She asked the board and police department to take action, adding that she feels ready to lose faith in local elected officials if they do not commit to protecting the human rights and safety of all residents.
“I urge you to be public in showing our community your moral compasses,” Ramos said. “Please show us that we have elected people who really do care.”
Laura O'Loughlin also read prepared remarks that were co-written by what she described as a large group of Millerton and North East residents.
“We just want to keep naming that immigrants are not outsiders in our village,” O'Loughlin read, adding that they are coworkers, neighbors, business owners and friends who contribute to the strength of the community. “When they are targeted with fear, intimidation, or violence, it harms us all.”
O'Loughlin went on to express concerns about the national pushback on protesters by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy,” she read. “Responding to it with force, especially against communities that already face disproportionate scrutiny and harm, is unacceptable.”
North East resident Bill Kish spoke to the importance of civic responsibility.
“I feel that if there's one thing I can do — and that others can do — at this point in time, it's to speak to power at every level, starting with the people who are here in this room,” Kish said, gesturing toward the board.
He urged trustees to recognize that “people are sad and angry and scared,” asking them to carry those concerns up the chain of command.
Kish concluded the final 30 seconds of his allotted time with a moment of silence for the lives that have been lost at the hands of federal officials.
Police Chief Joe Olenik shared highway and police department reports, with trustees expressing thanks to the short-staffed highway crew, which continues to operate without its full fleet of vehicles. The department has been working with the Town of North East to borrow equipment as needed.
“Bob Stevens has been fantastic,” Olenik said of the town’s highway superintendent.
The board voted to amend its fee schedule for fire inspections, doubling the cost for commercial properties from $50 to $100, a change that Najdek said aligns with other municipalities.
Trustees also approved the village’s annual agreement with Dutchess County to participate in its DWI control campaign, which aims to prevent people from driving while under the influence.
Village budget discussions are expected to be held throughout February, following the circulation of an initial draft to trustees on Tuesday night by Lisa Cope, village clerk and treasurer.
The board once again delayed its State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) — a state-required process to evaluate potential environmental, social or economic impacts — related to planned upgrades at Veteran’s Park. The village is awaiting final designs from the engineer based on recent minor feedback from the county. Once those revisions are complete, Najdek said the project will be “ready to roll” and can go out for bid, adding that she hopes it won’t push back the targeted completion by Memorial Day.
The village is also expected to submit a letter of intent to apply for this year’s Community Development Block Grant funding, with the application deadline approaching on March 3. Trustees said the most likely use of the funding would be to complete additional sidewalk work, possibly on North Center Street.
Trustees spent a significant portion of the meeting discussing a proposed local law that would formally establish a new tree committee and allow Millerton to pursue national recognition as a Tree City USA. Village legal counsel attended the meeting to outline the requirements of the program.
Under the proposal, the village would be required to pass a local law designating responsibility for all public trees, adopt a formal tree management plan, set aside at least $2 per capita annually in the budget, and hold an Arbor Day observance each year.
The committee would consist of five volunteers to be appointed by the village board, with potential oversight from the town board or a town employee. Members will likely be able to join from throughout Dutchess County, though the hope would be to limit members to the village and town. Once the committee is established, the village could then apply for various funding and grants.
As I noted here in an article last spring entitled “Hands off Greenland”, the world’s largest island was at the center of a developing controversy. President Trump was telling all who would listen that, for national security reasons, the United States needed to take over Greenland, amicably if possible or by force if necessary. While many were shocked by Trump’s imperialistic statements, most people, at least in this country, took his words as ill-considered bluster. But he kept telling questioners that he had to have Greenland (oftenechoing the former King of France, Louis XIV who famously said, “L’État c’est moi!”.
Since 1951, the U.S. has had a security agreement with Denmark giving it near total freedom to install and operate whatever military facilities it wanted on Greenland. At one point there were sixteen small bases across the island, now there’s only one. Denmark’s Prime Minister has told President Trump that the U.S. should feel free to expand its installations if needed. As climate change is starting to allow a future passage from thePacific Ocean to the Arctic, many countries are showing interest in Greenland including Russia and China but this hardly indicates an international crisis as Trump and his subordinates insist.
Researchers believe that, buried beneath the mammoth glaciers covering most of the land are rich deposits of various rare earth minerals including those needed for modern batteries and other hi-tech devices. Trump has already made a deal with Ukraine to supply them more arms in return for rights to its underground “rare earth” deposits. Some have called this extortion but to Trump it was business as usual. Greenland’s buried treasures could be a much bigger deal.
But perhaps Trump’s lifelong obsession with size is the dominant reason he feels he must have the world’s largest island; like his planned White House ballroom, for him this is essentially an ego trip.
Greenlanders and Danes have made it clear from the beginning that they do not wish to become American and are not for sale, Trump’s subordinates have tried to advance a scheme whereby Elon Musk might buy a majority of the individual Greenlanders’ votes to sell their country to the U.S.; however Denmark has the last word and is not about to agree to selling Greenland to anyone.
Although Greenlanders have largely been in favorof eventual independence, since Trump’s intemperate demands they have locked arms with Denmark. Recently, large demonstrations in both places have expressed anger, but even more, sadness that their staunch ally would turn against them.
Other than Trump’s appointees those who support the President’s claim to Greenland are hard to find in the U.S. or elsewhere. While most Republican political leaders have avoided speaking out on the matter, a few have including Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and former Majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both condemning the possible “taking” in no uncertain terms . Seasoned diplomat, Michael McFaul has called Trump’s insistence on “owning” Greenland as “the worst idea in American history.”
After speaking to the assembled crowd of political leaders and industrialists at Davos, Trump began discussions with Mark Rutte, secretary General of NATO and others after which, in a striking turnaround,he announced that they had put together the basis of a “deal” regarding Greenland.
But neither Greenland nor Denmark had been involved in those discussions; both rejected the agreement’s proposal that the United States would have sovereignty over the military bases both new and existing. Another facet of the proposal giving the U.S. control of underground mineral rights may proveexcessive to both Greenland and Denmark.
Although everyone seems relieved that the crisis appears to be largely over, the rupture between Europe and the U.S. remains. Considering President Trump’s erratic state of mind (in his speech at Davos he referred to Greenland as Iceland at least 3 times), who knows what he may demand tomorrow?
Architect and landscape designer Mac Gordon lives in Lakeville.
It is hard not to equate military spending and purchasing with diplomatic or strategic plans being made, for reasons otherwise unknown. Keeping an eye out for the physical stuff can often begin to shine a light on what’s coming – good and possibly very bad.
Without Congressional specific approval, the Pentagon has awarded a contract to Boeing for $8,600,000,000 (US taxpayer dollars) for another 25 F-15A attack fighters to be given to Israel. Oh, and there’s another 25 more of the F-15EX variant on option, free to Israel as well.
Meanwhile, many European countries have switched their purchases of the F-35 fighters to the French Rafale or the Joint European Fighter as well as Saab’s advanced concept fighter Gripen.Turkey and Airbus, meanwhile, have sold the Hurjet trainer to Spain and other countries over the US trainer. And France is about to begin laying the keel for a new aircraft carrier (though that will take almost a decade). Meanwhile, Airbus is now, since 2024, the primary supplier to all EU countries for military helicopters… Saab is making GlobalEye airborne aircraft for France, Italy and Germany… France’s Rafale Company is making and delivering Iron Beam high-energy laser weapons… Airbus has ramped up delivery to all its new EU customers of 18 new C295 tactical transports.
Some may wonder why EU leaders as well as the UK, have been so soft tongued when it comes to this Administration’s recent diplomatic transgressions over Greenland (oops, Iceland?). The reason is simple: For decades the US has been the cheapest and best supplier of the finest military hardware – planes, tanks, weapon systems, and defense capability. What every nation understood was that the US held the controls of the safe operation of those aircraft. For example, the electronics of every F-35 can be controlled remotely from the US. Go against us? We can pull the plug. That was never an issue before, where we had trust and mutual goals. The current rush to re-prioritize local EU manufacture and longer term self reliance in the EU is a direct consequence of this Administration’s changing of priorities and allied trust.
It is true that DJT can take credit for EU and UK increased military budgeting and preparedness, his actions have forced them to that reality. It is also true that his long term damage to American jobs and industry are just now becoming evident as less of our hardware is attractive to foreign buyers and our military oversight will be slowly eroded to a position where nations no longer feel the need for diplomatic or industrial reliance on America.
Peter Riva, a former resident of Amenia Union, New York, now lives in Gila, New Mexico.
A small group of protesters voice opposition to President Trump's administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Amenia's Fountain Square at the intersection of Route 44 and Route 22 on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025
The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, and before him Renée Good, by federal agents in Minnesota is not just a tragedy; it is a warning. In the aftermath, Trump administration officials released an account of events that directly contradicted citizen video recorded at the scene. Those recordings, made by ordinary people exercising their rights, showed circumstances sharply at odds with the official narrative. Once again, the public is asked to choose between the administration’s version of events and the evidence of its own eyes.
This moment underscores an essential truth: the right to record law enforcement is not a nuisance or a provocation; it is a safeguard. As New York Times columnist David French put it, “Citizen video has decisively rebutted the administration’s lies. The evidence of our eyes contradicts the dishonesty of the administration’s words.”
Separately, law enforcement agencies across the country are expanding their capacity to watch the public. Here at home, as we’ve reported, Dutchess County’s Real Time Crime Center brings together feeds from automated license-plate readers, including systems provided by Flock Safety, allowing police to track vehicles across jurisdictions in real time. These tools collect detailed movement data on vast numbers of people who are not suspected of any crime, often with limited public discussion of safeguards or oversight.
When citizens document state power, they are told to step back or trust official explanations. When the state documents the public, continuously and at scale, it is framed as efficiency. One form of observation is treated as suspect; the other as routine.
What magnifies the alarm in the Minnesota shootings isn’t just the loss of life, but the response that followed. Federal force was used against members of the U.S. public, and officials responded not with clarity or accountability, but with statements that collapsed under visual evidence. That willingness to lie, and to do so reflexively, signals a deeper problem: an administration increasingly willing to treat truth as an obstacle rather than an obligation.
A democratic society depends on shared facts. The right of citizens and journalists to observe, record, and document matters because it anchors truth in evidence, not authority. That right is not a threat to public safety. It is among the few remaining tools the public has to insist that power remains answerable to the truth.
