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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 21, 2010 · 12 Catholic board finds few takers for extended care By Tim Whitnell METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Only two of the seven Halton Catholic District School Board schools that will be offering all-day learning for Kindergarten students this September will offer before and after-school extended care as well. Catholic board superintendent Rick MacDonald told trustees at Tuesday's board meeting that parents at only two Milton schools showed enough interest in paying for either before and/or after-school care for their children. The seven Halton Catholic board schools that will offer full-day classes this September are Holy Rosary, St. Patrick and St. John in Burlington, St. James and St. Luke in Oakville, and St. Peter and Our Lady of Fatima in Milton. However, only the Milton schools will have the before and after-school care. St. Peter has 21 children registered for before school care and 22 for after; Our Lady of Fatima has 19 registered for before-school care and 20 "There was minimal interest from the other schools. We said that we needed at least 10 at every site to make it financially viable. it wasn't close." n Halton Catholic District School Board superintendent Rick MacDonald Early Bird Special 6 WEEKS ONLY $ 65pp Summer Programs begin July 6th, 2010 For registrations before June 15th. Three Fun Courses to choose from: · Ballroom Line Dancing · Summer Swing · Salsa Sizzle 647-883-0303 Lessons are held at Maple Grove United Church, 346 Maple Grove Drive, Oakville www.comedancing.ca ~ www.comedancing.ca for the after. "There was minimal interest from the other schools. We said that we needed at least 10 at every site to make it financially viable. It wasn't close," said MacDonald, noting the other five schools getting allday learning this fall only had between three and nine parents at each site send cheques to hold an extended day care spot for their children. The board will re-visit the before and after-school kindergarten care issue with parents during the next school year to gauge interest then, said MacDonald. The board has set fees under its extended day program for parents who want their junior or senior kindergarten-aged children (4-5 years old) to be cared for before and/or after the regular school day under the provincial government's push for allday early learning. Parents will pay $12 per day per child for before-school care and $17 per day for after-school care. If both options are chosen, the cost is $25 per day. Parents would pay every two weeks. Subsidies may be available from the board to some families based on financial need. The Ontario Ministry of Education has legislated that school boards operate the extended day program on a non-profit basis. The extended day service has to be offered to parents but boards do not have to run the program if there are not enough children registered to make it financial feasible, MacDonald said. MacDonald said the times that schools with all-day JK/SK will offer before and after-school programs will vary slightly depending on individual school start and dismissal times. He expects before-school care will last 90 minutes with after-school care running two-and-a-half to three hours. "This is very different for school boards. We are moving into the daycare business," MacDonald said of the changes. The board's extended day programs will be staffed by a certified early childhood educator (ECE) who will earn $23-$25 per hour. If a school's program surpasses 13 students, an assistant can be hired. Two ECEs would be needed at each school as the position requires them to also help out a teacher in the classroom for part of the regular school day. MacDonald believes the instruction and care at the board's extended day schools will offer better value than private daycare centres. "We provide (educational) programming and have more qualified staff, but they provide kitchens and we won't, so there's a tradeoff," he told trustees as a recent board meeting. The education ministry is phasing in full-day learning for JK/SK students over a five-year period beginning this fall. Currently, the Halton Catholic board offers JK/SK on a half-day basis every day of the week; the Halton public board offers fullday JK/SK every other day. By law in Ontario, parents don't have to place their son or daughter in JK or SK, but a child must be in school full-time by the age of six. The seven schools within the Halton Catholic board offering full-day early learning in September represent 19 JK/SK classrooms. The government is giving the Halton Catholic board $1.9 million for the nearly 500 early learning students in the first year of its implementation. Two more schools, representing seven classrooms, will offer all-day JK/SK within the Halton Catholic board in 2011-12 with the board's remaining 30-plus elementary schools to phase in all-day programming over the following three years.