With schools in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows getting emptier, the school board is looking at ways to use its "public assets" to serve other needs, and daycare is high on the priority list.

Currently, about 20 groups have expressed interest in setting up daycare centres in empty classrooms, but this probably won't happen until the fall 2008, according to school board chair Cheryl Ashlie.

"We are in the process of looking at all our facilities," said Ashlie, referring to the school closure review. "Daycare is a key issue in this community." She said many families choose a school because of their child care arrangements.

Ashlie is introducing a motion at the school board meeting on Wednesday to look at an "appropriate level of space" that could be dedicated to daycare.

However, no space can be dedicated to daycare until the board has decided which, if any, schools will be closed, Ashlie said, adding that the board doesn't want to allow a daycare into a space and then have to pull it out.

But if the school board can already count on some space being used by daycares, the board wants it to be factored in during the school closure process.

Parents prefer to put their children in after-school daycares located at the school they attend, said Jo-Anne MacKenzie, programs supervisor at the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Child Care Resource and Referral Program.

"If there was school space, I think that would be their first choice," she said, adding that the demand for after-school care and daycare for very small children is the highest.

"This last year the need has increased quite a bit," she said, citing the booming housing market that is attracting families to the community, especially to Maple Ridge.

The resource and referral program receives about 20 inquiries every day from parents looking for child care, and MacKenzie said there are fewer and fewer care providers with space for new children.