This segment originally aired on the October 26th, 2026 edition of WAMC's Northeast Notebook.
SEGMENT TRANSCRIPT
Lucas Willard: We now go to the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, where a week ago today, parents who send their children to Smith College's Early Childhood Education Center at Fort Hill were informed that the center would be closing in June of next year. Many of them were furious about the decision, which Smith College says is not a reflection on the quality of the care at Fort Hill, or a budget issue. Instead, Smith says the child care benefit it offers employees can now be used at any licensed and accredited provider. And Sam, last week you spoke with one of the parents who's not happy about this change.
Sam Dingman: That's right. I spoke with Mehammed Mack, the chair of the French department at Smith College. Mehammed also teaches in the SWAGS department at Smith. That's the study of women, gender, and sexuality. Mohammed sends his 10-year-old son Mansour to Fort Hill.
Mehammed Mack: Fort Hill is really, like, providing so much nurturing support for my child. The teachers there are like second mothers to him. We're two dads in my household, and we really appreciate the sort of expanded family that Fort Hill provides. Fort Hill is aligned with the Smith College schedule, so it works exactly with my hours, and I know there won't be any conflicts. It's also right next to my workplace, and it's an amazing mix at the level of class and cultural background.
A really beautiful mixed environment where my kid is getting, like, really worthwhile exposure to people from different backgrounds and different social classes, and learning so much that I don't even have time to teach him at home. Every day he comes home and he's learning some complex new concept or song or story or skill.
Dingman: So, Lucas, I spoke to Mehammad on Friday at the end of what he said had been a very confusing week for Fort Hill parents. He says they got the email announcing the closure at 6 p.m. last Monday, and then many of them had to stay up all night frantically applying to other programs to find spots for their kids for next year, because while June of next year may sound like they're getting plenty of notice, it's...
Willard: Not too far away!
Dingman: Yeah, as anybody with kids knows, very involved process to get your kid enrolled in a program that you've, you know, vetted and that has availability and time to actually start in fall of 2027. And Mehammed says many parents were very upset about that. He also described the scene at drop-off at Fort Hill the morning after that email went out.
Mack: I went to the school to do drop-off the next day with my son, and I see the staff teary-eyed, sleepless, and smiling. Because I have to hand over my kid to them, and they don't want to communicate to the children that anything is wrong, because children detect and absorb everything. And it was just a visual that I'll never forget. Seeing his teacher, Jamie, with three kids trying to climb on top of her, and me handing her a fourth kid, and she's just smiling and telling me to have a good day while I can clearly tell that she hasn't slept and she is teary-eyed.
Willard: So Sam, more on the staff at Smith College. What else did Mehammed tell you about the potential impact of this change for the people who actually work at Smith?
Dingman: Well, he told me that in in terms of Fort Hill, a lot of the workers there are female, and Mehammed is a professor at Smith - a women's college. And he thinks it sends a bad message to shut down this institution that has been such a reliable source of employment for women in this community for 100 years - Fort Hill opened in 1926. And he said he thinks Smith will suffer from a scholarly standpoint, also, because Fort Hill is a place where people studying education are able to do research that supports their development as educators, and that is a resource that's going to be lost.
Willard: And as we mentioned earlier in this segment, Sam Smith has said that the school's childcare benefit can be applied to other providers. What does Muhammad make of that?
Dingman: He sees that as a false choice, because Fort Hill offers infant care, which is hard to find elsewhere.
Mack: The other options that we have don't start until 15 months old, and so that requires a crazy amount of planning and sacrifice to, you know, make it work until that point. And the loss of salary, the loss of savings, the loss of human personnel for departments to use, and there's one provider that accepts infants regardless of salary, and there's another provider that has a salary cap, meaning it only it's a Head Start program, which is much needed and appreciated, but a lot of the Smith faculty and staff make too much money to qualify for that program.
Dingman: This question in Mehammed's mind has career implications for faculty who are not as established as he is at Smith.
Mack: I am one of the only tenured professors. I'm an older parent, and so I have tenure. A lot of the parents there are untenured, and that restricts their voices and speaking out at this current time. So I have been channeling and kind of relaying messages that I've received from untenured faculty who depend on this benefit to be able to do their work.
And I've also talked to senior faculty in my department and other departments who are just aghast at this decision because, as young working moms who are trying to get tenure, they would they all said the same thing: they would not have been able to achieve tenure without this organization.
Willard: And we reached out to Smith College for comment on this segment, their emailed statement reads in part: "Following a review of the college's child care benefits and operations, Smith College is expanding its child care benefits to cover employees with children ages zero to 12 enrolled in any licensed or accredited child care provider, including summer programs and after-school care. This decision involves significant reallocation of resources, resulting in the closure of the Smith College Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort Hill on june 4, 2027. Smith's current childcare benefit is limited exclusively to the Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort Hill, for children ages eight weeks through preschool. Under the new program, benefit-eligible employees will have the freedom to choose licensed and accredited childcare aligned with their schedules or tailored to their specific needs."
