Last-ditch Cowichan childcare plea made
Vancouver Island News Group - Cowichan News Leader And Pictorial
May 21, 2008
By: Michelle Thompson

Cowichan parents met with the childcare minister Tuesday to discuss the effects school closures could have on early learning.

The group spent an hour chatting with MLA Linda Reid yesterday afternoon to express concern about how the valley's childcare crisis could be exacerbated by the proposed closure of four schools.

On Monday, School District 79 trustees will determine whether Somenos, Tansor, Koksilah and Mill Bay elementary schools remain open this fall.

If all four shut, more than 200 preschoolers would be uprooted, by Social Planning Cowichan's estimates.

That non-profit organization produced an exhaustive report last year that indicated there are enough childcare spaces in this region to accommodate 50 per cent of the children who need it.

The SPC board chair, Candace Spilsbury, wants the education and childcare ministries to work together to establish a plan that would address the issue.

"I'd like to bring a message of working closely with the Ministry of Education so that the understanding of early learning - from birth to the end of elementary school education - is seen as an integrated system for children and their families," Spilsbury said.

"The research says stabilization is one of the most important factors for learning and for success. The less transitions, the more student achievement."

Conversely, some parents have expressed concern losing daycare facilities would create stressful situations for working families.

"I work full-time as a registered nurse in the operating room and I am seriously concerned I will have no daycare for my son next September," said Lee- Ann Williams, an Ecole Mill Bay parent, in a release.

"Parents and community members alike are alarmed at the potential loss of these childcare spaces so late in the school year."

It's beyond late to be looking for childcare spots for September, agreed Malahat-Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan.

He and others - including Cowichan-Ladysmith MLA Doug Routley and NDP childcare critic Claire Trevena - grilled Education Minister Shirley Bond about the issue in legislature yesterday afternoon.

"I just wanted her to assure parents that if they lose their spaces in the schools, they would at least have (space) for childcare," Horgan told the News Leader Pictorial. "She wouldn't commit to that."

However, Horgan said he was optimistic special adviser Lee Southern's report - which is expected to be made public May 26 - would contain information favourable to keeping spaces available for preschoolers….