Children's Village to close in June 2015

Onondaga-Cortland-Madison (OCM) BOCES recently informed impacted staff and families that its inclusive preschool program, Children’s Village, at East Syracuse-Minoa’s Park Hill School will close in June 2015 for financial reasons. The half-day program currently serves approximately 60 students with disabilities from various school districts in Central New York with a staff of 15 OCM BOCES employees.

The care day rate, set by the New York State Education Department, has not increased for OCM BOCES since the 2010-11 school year. Earlier this year, OCM BOCES administration met with the Onondaga County Executive’s Office to discuss the program’s financial situation and the need to close if additional funding was not made available.

“This difficult decision was made only after great deliberation,” said OCM BOCES District Superintendent Jody Manning. “Unfortunately, all of our program budgets needs to be self-sustaining and because of the stagnant rate of funding, this program could not do so. We are working to place all of our staff in new assignments and are readily available to help families find alternative appropriate programs for their children.”

The OCM BOCES Children’s Village Preschool Program at Park Hill Elementary School is one of only three BOCES preschool programs in New York state. All other BOCES preschool programs have previously closed for financial reasons.

Following is a list of preschool programs for students with special needs:

SPICE – Elmcrest Children’s Center (315/446-3220) 960 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13224  

Enable – Exploring Your World (315/475-1382) 1603 Court Street, Syracuse, NY  13208

Jowonio School (315/445-4010) 3049 East Genesee Street, Syracuse, NY 13224


Liberty Post (315/425-1004) 1045 James Street, Syracuse, NY 13203

Little Lukes (315/701-1107) 5820 Heritage Landing Drive, East Syracuse, NY 13057

Main Street Early Education Center (315/218-2200) 205 S. Main Street, North Syracuse, NY 13212


Onondaga Central Preschool (315/552-5070) 208 Rockwell Road, Nedrow, NY 13120