Full-day Kindergarten could cause child care headache
MetroValley Newspaper Group - Richmond Review
07 Nov 2008
By: Martin van den Hemel

The advent of full-day Kindergarten would be welcomed by many Richmond parents, but it could create a headache for others who work in or use local child care services.

…. but in the meantime, local trustees, school administrators and child care providers are scratching their heads over the issue.

Currently, some 50 elementary school classrooms are being leased out by the school district to private child care providers.

If the province were to begin offering full-day Kindergarten starting in September of 2009, many of those rented classrooms would need to be reclaimed and used for the Kindergarten classes.

That could result in many child care providers closing shop in a city where child care spaces are already hard to come by. Aside from a lack of alternatives places to relocate, private child care operators pay monthly rental rates that are among the lowest in the Lower Mainland.

Though the extent of the impact isn't currently known, there's the potential that hundreds of local families who need child care between 7 and 9 a.m., and from 3 to 5 p.m. might be affected, Richmond school district secretary treasurer Ken Morris said. There are currently 1,400 students enrolled in Kindergarten, split evenly between morning and afternoon classes, he said.

….There's no space available," she [Vicki Croll] said, referring to a lack of rental spaces suitable for child care….