The Flin Flon School Division will consider operating its own daycare, but not all trustees think it’s a good idea.
Trustees voted 6-1 Tuesday to refer the issue of a school-based daycare to their Strategic Planning Committee for discussion.
The motion came at the suggestion of MLA Clarence Pettersen, who wants the school board to look at a daycare for the children of teens and women returning to school to finish their Grade 12.
One Flin Flon school, Ruth Betts, already houses a daycare and a nursery, but they are autonomous entities that simply rent space from the board.
The daycare to be discussed by the board could be operated by the division itself – a concern for Trustee Trish Sattelberger.
She said she’s unsure how the division would go about managing a daycare, as it would fall under a different government portfolio than education.
As the former chairperson of Flin Flon’s Kiddie Korner Daycare, Trustee Sattelberger said she does not support the concept.
“I don’t know that we have the expertise and that we have the staff and that we have all the other stuff to do this,” she said.
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“There’s a lot going on as it is.”
But Trustee Sattelberger was alone in her opposition to the concept, as her colleagues voted to refer the matter for further review.
Trustee Murray Skeavington, board chair, said there are still unanswered questions at this early stage of the discussion.
“We want to take a serious look at whether we can first of all put (a daycare) in one of our schools and if we can afford to on our own,” he said. “So we want to just get a better feel of it.”
In a phone interview, MLA Pettersen said many schools already have daycares for students’ children.
Asked if there is a significant need for such a daycare locally, Pettersen said a survey should be done to gauge the demand.
When he taught at Many Faces Education Centre, an alternative high school, Pettersen said there were students who could have utilized a daycare to allow them to finish their education.
“If you’re a school like Many Faces, you want to make sure that you can give every student the opportunity to finish their education and if (a daycare) helps, then we’re doing the right thing,” Pettersen said.
Pettersen said there is government funding available for school-run daycares, but he wasn’t sure whether it would cover the entire cost.
But at the time of Tuesday’s vote, Trustee Skeavington said the board was under the impression that Pettersen favoured an all-out public daycare, not just one for students’ children.
For her part, Trustee Sattelberger said she has no problem with Kiddie Korner and the Flin Flon Guidance Nursery renting space at Ruth Betts.
She said those institutes have their own governing structures and hire their own staff, so there is no need for division involvement.
In their review of Pettersen’s suggestion, trustees may want to consider potential implications of a law limiting when divisions can shut down school-based daycares.
Manitoba schools are not allowed to displace daycares in order to meet provincial restrictions on class sizes in Kindergarten to Grade 3.
That could produce severe challenges if the board opens a daycare and later finds that the space is needed for K-3 students – something unlikely to happen unless enrollment goes up.
A provincial spokesperson said divisions can displace daycares for other reasons, but they would be encouraged to help find alternative space for the daycare.
