Dual use of spaces can solve childcare issues
SD60 working to find solutions in Hudson's Hope
Making better use of spaces within schools is not only cost-effective but sharing spaces for childcare as well as educational purposes fits well with the recently revamped mandate for schools, according to the Board of Trustees at School District 60.
Creating a dual use space within Hudson’s Hope School has enabled the community to at least partially solve its childcare problem.
After learning earlier in the school year that there is no longer a daycare facility in Hudson’s Hope, the district has been working to find a solution to the problem which impacts several families in the community.
In her report to the Board of Trustees on October 16, Secretary-Treasurer Angela Telford said that the YMCA has applied to share the Strong Start space in Hudson’s Hope School for a before and after school care program. Telford says the program could start as soon as the end of the month, they’re just waiting for the license to be approved by Northern Health.
“I believe we’ve jumped over that hurdle and should be able to move forward,” said Telford.
Telford describes the granting of a license as a hurdle because she said Northern Health doesn’t like to issue licenses for shared spaces. They prefer each childcare program to have its own space, she said.
Using a school space for a before and after school daycare program is not a new concept, said Trustee Ida Campbell. “The District of Taylor ran a preschool, and we had Strong Start in the same room. They had to have the two licenses, so they have done it in the past.”
Board chair, Helen Gilbert said that she feels that sharing spaces makes good economic sense. But she is concerned that the apparent government resistance to allowing the sharing of spaces for childcare doesn’t fit with the Ministry of Education’s changed mandate for schools.
“If you want dual use of spaces, which is good use of taxpayer dollars, and you’ve changed the mandate of our schools, then there shouldn’t be hurdles,” Gilbert said.
Telford agreed, saying that previously “everyone operated in silos, so you had a space for this, and a space for that, but the best use of space is a shared space. It’s the most cost-effective.”
Currently the Hudson’s Hope before and after school care program is the only one in the district that will be run by the YMCA said Telford, because they have a greater capacity to find staff within the community and manage it.
“Right now, we have programs running, or programs we’re trying to run, but we can’t staff them. I think the Y has a lead on staffing that we don’t have,” Telford said.
Superintendent of Schools, Stephen Petrucci said that Gilbert has identified an area he thinks is of interest across the province in terms of some of the new responsibilities of school boards.
“Licensing is one of those topics that they will continue to have to streamline. It will be a question around making it more accessible, and quite frankly, less administratively challenging,” Petrucci said.
As it stands, the process for creating childcare spaces in schools is quite challenging because of the amount of time district staff must devote to the licensing process, Petrucci said.
Trustee Nicole Gillis, who represents Hudson’s Hope, thanked district staff for their efforts to secure daycare for the children of her community, noting that when governments are involved things don’t often get done so quickly.
“This is great news for us,” Gillis said.
Telford added that other parties in the community are working on a plan to fill the need for early years childcare, but that there is nothing solid yet.