Marnie Van Esbroeck and her husband are doing their best to juggle parenting and their work schedules after the before and after school program at their child’s school was shuttered six weeks before the start of classes. “We’ve been alternating leaving work early so that we can come and meet the bus here for 3:15 [p.m.]. Then we’re making up the time with our jobs throughout the week. So, it’s really burning us out,” explained Van Esbroeck, who lives near Hensall, Ont. London Bridge says a shortage of early childhood educators led to the abrupt closure of before and after school care at two elementary schools in Exeter and Hensall, closing 240 childcare spaces. A month later, parents are still scrambling to cope. “It’s a big loss for our community. Teachers within the school boards don’t even have access to care for their own children. Healthcare workers. It’s impacting our whole community. It’s going to have a ripple effect, for sure,” saidVan Esbroeck, who has a child in grade one and a preschooler, ready to enter Kindergarten next year. “We have families that depend on it for their livelihood. I don’t think I can make it any clearer than that. You know, people who are working full time jobs now, all sudden they don’t have a before and after program. They now have to stop working, to go look after their children. That has an economic impact to the community and to that individual family. So, it’s very important to have it,” said Municipality of South Huron Mayor, George Finch. Both Van Esbroeck and Finch are imploring the Avon Maitland District School Board to run their own before and after school program because, due to previous third-party care closures, approximately half of Avon Maitland’s schools don’t have before and after school care, says Van Esbroeck. Under provincial legislation, school boards are required to provide before and after school programs for children 12 and under when there is sufficient demand. Van Esbroeck is presenting a petition to the school board Tuesday afternoon, asking them to begin the licencing process for board operated before and after school care, like school boards in Waterloo, Halton, and Ottawa offer. “Quite honestly, the local school board has carriage of this responsibility. It’s legislative. They are to ensure that there is a program for before and after for every school in the province of Ontario. So, they need to take ownership of this and start a program,” said Finch. “We’re not asking them to reinvent the wheel, we’re simply asking them to follow the model that has been very successful in those regions,” added Van Esbroeck. The Avon Maitland District School Board says they are still looking to fill the void left by London Bridge with another third-party provider. “A number of organizations initially expressed interest in partnering with us; however, not all of those organizations were viable. We continue to work diligently with organizations through the appropriate processes for certification and licensing, which is conducted provincially by the Ministry of Education Childcare Branch and locally, by the County of Huron,” the school board said. “At this time, the board’s primary focus is on securing a qualified third-party partner to ensure continuity and stability moving forward,” said Graham Shantz, director of education for the Avon Maitland District School Board. In the meantime, Van Esbroeck and hundreds of other South Huron parents will have no choice but to continue scrambling or to move. “I have heard from families who are considering moving. So, I think this is a missed opportunity for the school board. This will certainly attract a lot of people to this area, especially with the cost of living so high, in the city. More and more people are looking for more small-town communities to start a family in,” said Van Esbroeck. Van Esbroeck’s presents her petition on Tuesday. You can learn more about the parent’s request on the Extend the Day website.
