Overflow crowd protests imperiled Fairfax child care center

Jun. 15—More than 200 adults and children packed a Ross Valley school board meeting Tuesday, distraught over the potential loss of a beloved decades-old community child care center.

"I was there from 3-months-old to fifth grade," said Yessenia Mendieta, one of more than 40 people who spoke at the tumultuous three-hour meeting over the fate of the Fairfax San Anselmo Children's Center.

"If it was not for the Fairfax San Anselmo Children's Center, I would have been taken into protective services," she added, breaking into tears. "This feels like you're trying to eradicate low-income people from Marin."

The school district-owned property, operating as a child care center for nearly 50 years at the site of the former Deer Park School in Fairfax, is facing concerns about fire safety and building code upgrades as center officials petition the school district for a four-year lease extension.

The district's legal counsel, Terry Tao, has advised against the lease extension for liability reasons. He is recommending the district give the center 60-days notice to vacate, unless the community and center staff can come up with a way to fundraise the $8 million he said would be needed to renovate the building and bring it up to various state and local building and fire codes.

"If it was a school, the center could qualify for a 50% state funding match to do renovations," Tao said. "But it's not a school. It's a child care center." At the same time, the center building was constructed when it was a school, so it comes under the jurisdiction of the state's Field Act, a 1937 law intended to make schools and hospitals safe in the event of an earthquake or other calamity.

The Field Act requirements come under the jurisdiction of the Division of State Architects, which would have to sign off on any building design upgrades, Tao said.

The center, now on a month-to-month lease, petitioned for a four-year lease extension in March to apply for a $500,000 state grant to do a range of necessary improvements, such as an automated fire alarm system, a sprinkler system and air-conditioning upgrades.

Heidi Tomsky, the center's executive director, said Tuesday it looks like the grant application was moot unless the district would authorize the lease extension, which Tao is advising against.

"It's hard for me to think there's not a hidden agenda," Tomsky told the board during a heated shouting match with board president Shelley Hamilton, who was trying to curtail Tomsky's speech to the one-minute limit assigned to the other four dozen speakers.

"There are 1,000 kids in Marin County who need low-cost child care," she said. "We can only take 100, which serves 10%. There are 350 kids on the waiting list for child care."

Center co-director Erik Schweninger told the trustees they "need to do their due diligence" rather than just accepting the opinion of an out-of-town attorney who has never personally visited the site.

Tao received all his fire safety information in a phone consultation last year with Ross Valley Fire Department senior inspector Robert Bastianon, who advised Tao on what would be needed if the center were planning upgrades.

According to Ross Valley Fire Chief Jason Weber, Bastianon never did an inspection or filed a report of the conversation with Tao because the most recent fire inspection in November 2021 done by Ross Valley found no violations. Bastianon only was questioned about upgrades that might be needed, Weber said.

"As the center is now, it is safe," Weber said Wednesday. "It is an existing non-conforming use that is very typical throughout Marin."

Weber said he would personally work with the center and the Ross Valley School District to come up with a solution that maintains the center at the site and addresses the liability concerns.

"We're happy to work with them to find a path forward," Weber said. "We will work with them to do whatever it takes for a successful outcome."

Ross Valley Superintendent Marci Trahan said she and staff at Marin Municipal Water District did water pressure tests Wednesday morning at two hydrants on the center property and a hydrant just outside the park. All were found to have PSI (pounds per square inch) water pressure levels below the standard acceptable levels of 100 PSI.

"MMWD staff conducted PSI testing on the hydrants and found the following," Trahan said in an email. "77 PSI hydrant inside the campus; 81 PSI hydrant in immediate parking lot in front of school site."

The MMWD staff "also tested the PSI of the MMWD equipment immediately in front of the 199 Porteous backflow," Trahan added. "This equipment, which was installed within the last two weeks, tested at 92 PSI."

"The three hydrants that were tested Wednesday were below 100 PSI, and were not in line with previously quoted figures," Trahan said.

"We are faced with a tough decision about how to both ensure the safety and welfare of young children while also supporting the child care needs of low-income families in our community," Trahan said in an email Tuesday. "We are relying on facts, evidence and direct source information from fire codes, education codes, building codes, source documents, and facility construction experts."

Trahan said the district was "still in the process of collecting, documenting and assessing all of this information before we make a decision.

"And most importantly, the staff and board of RVSD share the community's love and concern for this wonderful community resource that we, as a district, have supported with affordable rent in Deer Park for over 50 years," she said.

The trustees and district staff "do not want the center to close or to move out of our community," Trahan added. "We want them to flourish and thrive."

Maureen Dolan of Woodacre, who raised her son — now 24 — as a single mother, said the center was the only thing that allowed her to work and survive during those early years by providing subsidized child care from the time her son was 2 1/2 through middle school.

"There are very few options for subsidized day care in Marin," she said. "This was not just an asset for me, it's a critical asset for the community."

As of Wednesday, 388 people have signed a petition calling for the district to preserve the center at its current location.

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