Lease revisions needed for Castine’s day care
Jan. 6, 2026
To the Editor:
As Castine prepares for the upcoming vote on the renewal of the 10-year lease of the town-owned land on 39 State Street in Castine, we hope this decision can be approached with the clarity and stewardship that our town deserves. Quality child care is essential to the vitality of Castine and families rely on having a stable, well-run center.
The current building that houses Castine’s child care center was constructed with considerable financial and physical support from members of the community, who anticipated continuing input and collaboration with respect to the mission and operation of the child care center. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this publicly owned property is used in a manner that reflects good governance, transparency, and accountability.
Over several years, many parents, caregivers, and members of the community have raised concerns about the current lease holder, Community Childhood Learning Place (CCLP), and its leadership, communication practices, and responsiveness to families. These concerns are not new, nor are they isolated. While individual experiences vary, the common theme has been a desire for stronger oversight and a leadership model that is aligned with community expectations for professionalism, inclusion, and operational stability.
At a recent town hearing, and as expressed by CCLP in various letters and communications to the town, it has been clearly determined that the current lease is confusing. It also does not provide adequate oversight from stakeholders and is up for extension for another 10 years without any edits to the terms of the lease.
Renewing the lease without addressing these longstanding issues risks locking the town into another 10-year commitment without the improvements that families have consistently asked for. It is not anti-child care to seek better governance. It is, in fact, the opposite: High-quality early childhood education thrives when leadership is trusted, transparent, and responsive. Families and town members have proposed various solutions to the current CCLP board members to ensure that the current lease holders have the ability or option to continue to provide child care. However, the current board is wholly unwilling to budge on working with families to ensure continuity of care.
We urge voters to consider whether the current structure at CCLP is in the best interest of the town and whether allowing them to continue for another 10 years without any lease revisions serves our families as well as it could. The selectboard has outlined their commitment that the
town-owned property continues to serve as a space for early childhood education and afterschool care with as minimal a lapse in care for children as possible.
A vote of “no” on January 13th will allow the town of Castine to develop a new lease that provides the town more governance over the property and includes concrete accountability measures. This would ensure that the people of Castine and the greater area will have the opportunity to support child care while also ensuring that the standards our children, educators, and community deserve are met.
Castine is at its best when we make decisions rooted in facts, fairness, and long-term thinking. We hope we do so again here.
Sincerely,
Bobby Vagt
Casey Bernard
Courtney Hamlin
Lisa Lawsing
Elizabeth and Peter Lewis
Linda Murray
Rachel and Zach Sawyer
Lindsey Vagt
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