New Westminster parents don’t want daycare space to be moved out of École Qayqayt Elementary School.
Several parents have sent letters to the school board asking them to reconsider a proposal to move infant-toddler daycare spaces out of Qayqayt and Fraser River Middle School. The daycares, operated by the Purpose Society, offer space for 72 children in the downtown area.
But the future of the two centres has come into doubt as the School District 40 board grapples with a space crunch at its schools, particularly those in the city’s fast-growing core. To try to free up more classroom space, the district has suggested it could move the two daycares to two different sites — potentially to the grounds of Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School, in the West End, and F.W. Howay Elementary School, in Massey Victory Heights — and convert the daycare space into classrooms instead.
In a letter to the board, parent Allison Clavelle suggested the board should defer moving the programs until space can be found in the downtown area. She and her husband, who live less than 500 metres from the school, have three children: two in school at Qayqayt and one at the child-care centre.
“Each morning my husband leaves the house at 6 a.m. with our one car to get to his work, which is not transit-accessible. I walk all three children to the school building for drop-off each morning. Moving the daycare site out of the downtown would make it completely inaccessible for families like mine and force us to find alternative care,” she wrote.
At the very least, Clavelle said, the district should provide at least 24 months notice to families, consistent with waitlists at other child-care facilities.
Those thoughts were echoed by parent Ian Clark, who said the proposed new locations would make school drop-offs complicated and necessitate using a daycare closer to the school.
“As wait-lists tend to be multi-year, we would like to request timing of the closure to be far enough in advance that we could reasonably find a replacement,” he said.
Katerina and Noel Sand wrote that they understand the pressure on the district to make space for the elementary school students at Qayqayt but pointed out how much stress a daycare move would cause for families.
“We have now gone through the stresses of pandemic and everything that comes with it. Having to change/relocate child care would be difficult on our child, as well as on us,” they wrote.
Child care back on agenda at Oct. 25 school board meeting
The board hasn’t yet made a final decision on moving the child-care centres, but the issue is back on the agenda for the school board meeting tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 25).
A report from secretary-treasurer Bettina Ketcham notes the district has been approved for $2.8 million in funding under the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s New Spaces Fund to allow it to relocate both daycare sites.
The report says Tweedsmuir and Howay are the district’s largest school sites and notes the district has no sites in the downtown core with space for child care.
It also notes district staff have reached out to the city about possible sites that would be suitable for infant-toddler care in the downtown; though none have been found so far, Ketcham’s report said the district will continue to work with the city on available downtown options, in parallel with the planning work it’s doing to use the district’s own sites.
Ketcham’s report notes it’s likely child-care centres would be relocated in the spring of 2024 but says more details on timeline and other information will be brought to the board’s Nov. 8 operations committee meeting.
SD40 capacity review looking at daycare, programs of choice and more
Moving the daycares is just one part of a multi-faceted plan by School District 40 to deal with the space shortage in its schools. It’s undertaking a capacity review to come up with other solutions while it awaits funding for and construction of a new elementary school on the Fraser River Middle School site.
Other ideas in the works are a proposal to take over Neighbourhood Learning Centre space at Qayqayt that’s currently being used by New Westminster Family Place; a review of programs of choice (French immersion, Montessori and Home Learners) to determine where they should be located; and a review by an external consultant to determine how best to maximize space at New Westminster Secondary School.
How to attend the next School District 40 board meeting
Want to attend the meeting to hear what the board has to say about the issue? It’s on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the School District 40 office, 811 Ontario St.
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