PETER DUNCAN feels comfortable leaving 15-month-old son Alexander at the Alice Street Learning Center every day.

And from the smiles and giggles coming from the tow-headed toddler as he plays with other youngsters his size, it's clear he's happy there, too.

But absent a miracle, the city's budget woes seem destined to end that happy union Aug. 27.

Although the city will vote Tuesday night on a plan to save a preschool child care program at the center, managers who run the infant/toddler program have told Duncan and other parents to find a new place for their children because this one is closing down that day.

The child care facility at Alice and 17th streets has housed two separate programs since May 1994, offering both market rate and subsidized child care to serve a growing downtown Oakland work force.

The infant/toddler program is operated by the YWCA, serving 16 newborns and toddlers up to age 2. The preschool program is operated by the Oakland Unified School District's early child care development department and currently serves 76 children ages 3 to 5, said manager Cherie Hsieh. About 80 percent of the children receive a subsidy. It is the only preschool operated by the school district located downtown.

Oakland leased the one-story office building from the East Bay Municipal Utility District in 1993 and spent $600,000 to convert it. The property is appraised at $1.7 million, and EBMUD would like to sell it. The city is interested but doesn't have the money right now.

The city pays $125,146 per year in rent and collects $1,200 per month from the school district. The YWCA has not paid its $1,500 monthly rent since it filed for bankruptcy in 1996, although it did pay a one-time $18,000 bankruptcy settlement and $2,400 in rent in 2002.

The city and EBMUD have negotiated a new two-year lease (with three one-year renewal options) at a lower yearly rate of

$101,856, including utilities. The city is looking for the schools to pick up a much larger share.

In the proposal going to the City Council Tuesday, the school district would pay

$80,000 toward the first year's rent, with the city picking up the $21,856 difference. The city would pay the full rent for the second year, when it expects to have surplus funds from sales of property, said Councilmember Jean Quan (Montclair-Laurel).

Unfortunately, teachers and parents say, the deal has excluded the YWCA because it cannot afford to pay more rent. The school district has notified the Y it is taking over the building because it needs to boost enrollment to cover the higher payments to the city.

"If the Y was able to pay more rent it would be a huge help," said Jane Nicholson, director of the school district's department of early childhood education. "We'll pay almost $7,000 a month and it's subsidized care, so I have to make sure that I can make it work based on the contracts I have with the state."

Carolyn Stull, the YWCA's new executive director, said the agency would like to keep the program but she said there is no extra money and no space in other YWCA buildings.

The news has hit parents and employees hard, said Rosalind Davis, the infant/toddler program manager. She is clearing out rooms in preparation for the closure, and some employees have been laid off or transferred. The infants and toddlers enrolled in the program have dwindled to eight, and she wasn't expecting any miracles.

"We're expecting the worst, actually the worst has already happened," Davis said. "The school district needs the space. It's sad ... I love working with the babies."

Phong Tuyen has worked with the infants for six years and can't imagine any better job. On Friday, two of her tiny charges, twins Emily and Samantha Wu, celebrated their first birthday. They hugged her tight when a stranger came close.

"I'm like their mom," she said. "The parents love me."

Tuyen said the twins' mom has looked at other places but there are few options. Duncan is plenty peeved about the whole situation, and the sense that his complaints to city officials have fallen on deaf ears.

"This is the only infant/toddler program in downtown," he said. "If you want to attract 10,000 new residents, where will they send their children? We live on 17th Street, in the Essex, and we're moving to Montclair. My wife works in the Kaiser Center and I work in San Francisco. It's very handy. What we'll do after Aug. 27, I have no idea."

Quan fully supports the child care program but she thinks there is less demand for infant care. And there is no guarantee her colleagues will approve the deal. If they don't, the school district also will be scrambling to find alternate programs for 74 preschoolers.

"I just think it's generally a shame," she said. "We've spent millions of dollars so  the Mayor  can have this arts school and less than half the kids come from Oakland."



Contact Cecily Burt at cburt@angnewspapers.com .