Parents protest public board’s plan for child care
Posted Jan 17, 2012 08:52:38 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Concerned parents spoke out Tuesday night against a Waterloo Region District School Board plan to take over before and after school care for kindergartners.
A group of them held a protest outside Driftwood Park Public School ahead of an information meeting held by the school board. The group held signs reading, “Affordable licensed daycare is at risk!”
They voiced a number of concerns, including that the cost of care may rise and that they would have to find alternate care in the summer.
Elaine Brown was one of about 50 concerned parents on hand and says they’d like to see a hybrid model. “We want the Waterloo Region District School Board to allow the third parties to continue operating, continue taking excellent care of our children as they have for many, many years,” she said.
School Board Chair Catherine Fife says the board is open to ideas from parents. “We have a lot of options before us,” she explains. “We are certainly open to listening and to modifying if it doesn’t compromise the overall goals of the program.”
Last night was just the first of six roundtable discussions being held by the board. “These are decisions that need to be talked about in a public way and in a transparent way,” Fife says. “We’re committed to the process and we understand that we have some rebuilding of trust to do.”
The information from the meetings will be presented in a report to school board trustees before final decisions are made.
tiffany.hendsbee@570news.rogers.com
