12 new daycare centres to open in district schools
Metrovalley Newspaper Group - Maple Ridge News
July 10, 2008
By: Robert Mangelsdorf

The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district could see up to 12 new early childcare centres operating out of the district's elementary schools by the beginning of September.

The privately-run facilities would use empty classroom space in the schools to provide daytime care to pre-school aged children

The daycares still need to be licenced, approved by Fraser Health and negotiate an operating contract with the school district, but assistant superintendent Randy Cranston hopes they will be up and running in time for the start of school in September.

"These programs will welcome parents and preschoolers into the school, and they'll become more comfortable in the school setting," he said, adding that it will ease the transition into school life and have a positive developmental effect on children.

The 12 elementary schools that have been approved to house childcare programs…Currently there is only one private daycare operating out of a district school...

In April, the Board of Education approved an annual rental rate of $10,180 for daycare providers wanting to set up shop in one of the districts many empty classrooms, as well as an alternative daily rate of $51.

"We're not making any money on this," said Cranston. The idea is to provide quality daycare space for local parents, at an affordable price.

The district received more than 30 applications requesting space in the district's schools, and 12 different providers were chosen for the 12 different sites, ranging from individuals who have run a family daycare out of their home and want to expand, to larger-scale daycare companies, said Cranston.

"One application we received asked for 11 rooms in four locations," he said.

The programs offered will range from Montessori and toddler care to before- and after-school programs for children of all ages. The programs range from one classroom in size to three….

Cranston is hopeful the Ministry of Education will soon recognize the space the daycares are using under the province's school utilization formula, which is used to determine if a district is eligible for funding to build new schools.

According to the formula, a district's elementary schools must be at 95 per cent of capacity before they can qualify for the money. The Ministry recently announced that it would be including the space used by StrongStart centres in the formula.

"Now we just need them to recognize all those other things," said Cranston….