Lynsey Kitching, Tumbler Ridge News
Daycare in Tumbler Ridge was a big issue last year. The daycare had 70 students, waitlists and a demand for more space. In response to this demand, a plan, paid for by HD Mining, was created to map out the area for the new daycare facility allocated by the District. …
Since the plan was made however, nothing has been done, and the question now remains, is it even needed? Mayor Darwin Wren says, “What we’re hoping is that industry will come forward and support the construction of the building itself, and then the District would assume the operations of the daycare and the associated costs. The society we have in place right now would simply move into it and run as they do, except they’d be able to expand all the programs.”
A new daycare facility would not only create more space for the daycare, but also for other parts of the community centre. …
This year, the daycare is still operating almost at capacity with 55 pupils. There are two pre-school classes.. There is also a daycare which operates Monday to Friday with some openings, and lastly there is the out-of-school care which operates Monday to Friday….
If we can expand, that only means we can serve more of the community and bring more children in. Also, we could possibly look at other programs such as infant and toddler classes, and trying to obtain more qualified staff for expanding programs. That has been a need which has been seen. The youngest we can take is 30 months so there are a lot of families who are seeking care for under two years old. We don’t have a program which offers that.”
Finding qualified staff seems to be tough in all industries in the north, including Early Childhood Education (ECE). …In the north it’s always hard to find qualified people. …
The need for more qualified workers makes it near impossible for the daycare to operate and accommodate for a mine workers schedule. …That’s always been a challenge is finding the qualifications we need for staffing. The challenge we are facing right now is not having enough qualified staff to prolong the hours to meet the mines hours. They open at seven, but we still close at five, 5:30, so either way, it’s not really matching the mines hours.”…
For full-time daycare it’s $600 for a month Monday to Friday for 30 months to 5 years-old. For three days of pre-school a week it’s $150, two days is $100 and out-of-school care is full-time morning and afternoons for $365 or afternoon (after school) for $270…
So, unless industry contributes or volunteers step-up to raise the funds for the new children’s centre, the plans are just going to sit in Mayor Wren’s office and continue to collect dust.
Mayor Wren says, “One mine may not be able to support building a daycare centre, but if there’s four mines operating and daycare is an issue for all of them around recruitment and retention of workers, than it may make sense they all work together to solve it.”