Some Calgary parents say they were caught off guard by the sudden shutdown of their kids’ daycare this week. Lindsay Held says she was told on Wednesday evening that the Wee Wild Ones location at University Innovation Quarter would be temporarily closed, effective immediately, because the daycare’s operation license had expired. “If this goes past (Saturday), I will have to be asking family to drive in eight hours from B.C. to come and care for my child, because my husband and I can’t take any more days off,” she said, adding the family she has in Calgary also work full-time. Meanwhile, Ashley Chrusch, whose three-year-old daughter Emily attends the daycare, says she was also left scrambling. “Yesterday, my father-in-law drove an hour into town to take care of my daughter for the day,” she said. “Today, we had to take a financial hit so that my husband could stay home and care for our daughter.” Wee Wild Ones vice-president of operations Stephanie Maier says the University location was subject to a one-year license for operating, which she says is standard operating procedure for all new daycares. Knowing the expiry date was coming up, Maier says they began the process of submitting the required documentation at the start of July. The daycare was notified by the province on Wednesday that there was missing documentation required to operate. “We wanted to make sure we had ample time to have everything in order,” Maier said. “We completed all the checklists that were given to us, and unfortunately, the timing just didn’t work.” In a statement to CTV News, Garrett Koehler, senior press secretary to Ministry of Education and Childcare, said childcare closures are highly disruptive. “We have resources for families to find alternative childcare,” he said. “Wee Wild Ones University in Calgary did not have their license renewed because they failed to provide the documentation required to legally operate a childcare centre.” ‘Fluid situation’ Maier says Wee Wild Ones is doing everything it can to hopefully reopen its doors in the near future. “This is a very fluid situation,” she said. “Unfortunately, we do not have an update on the timeline at this time, but as soon as we are given any notification, we will be contacting our families right away.” Chrusch says not knowing what comes next is weighing heavily on her. “To have to scramble last minute to come up with some kind of care for my daughter, and then also not know if that is going to have to be a long-term solution is incredibly stressful and worrying,” she said. “I also then start to think about, do I have to end up coming up with another solution and find childcare at a different place?” Held says it’s not just the parents feeling the stress; it’s challenging for the children too. She says her daughter really enjoys the daycare and not being able to go has been difficult. “She wants to come back,” she said. “Today, she was asking if we were going to daycare and we had to tell her, ‘No, it’s still closed.’” ‘Really unacceptable’ Held and Chrusch both say outside of this situation, the daycare has been fantastic. Held says the closure was a shock and “seemed really out of character.” She questions why the notice of missing documentation came at the last minute. “I think the timeline from the governing bodies is ridiculous, and the fact that they couldn’t somehow find some way to do a temporary stopgap measure — or at least work with the daycare to give parents at least a couple of days’ notice to organize some things. “It just all seems really unacceptable. This just seems really short-sighted and really hurtful to a lot of families and to this program. “These educators and these professionals don’t deserve to be treated this way either with the uncertainty,” Maier says Wee Wild Ones was able to help some families send their children to other locations, as the University Innovation Quarter was the only Wee Wild Ones location to be impacted.
