Parents scramble as London Bridge ends before and after school care in Huron County

An empty childcare room is seen at Exeter Elementary School. (Source: London Bridge/Facebook)

Staffing shortages for a local before and after school program has left many parents scrambling after it was announced the program would permanently close.

An email to parents said the programs closures at Exeter Elementary and Precious Blood in Exeter will take effect Sept. 26, while the preschool services at Bluewater Coast in Hensall will end on Friday.

“After extensive consideration and many in-depth discussions, London Bridge has made the very difficult decision to permanently close all before and after School Programs in Huron County, as well as the preschool program at Bluewater Coast,” read a statement from child care services company London Bridge.

CTV News spoke with Executive Director Angela Woodburn who said, “This decision was not made lightly. Despite our ongoing and extensive efforts to recruit and retain qualified early childhood educators across the county, we continue to face critical staffing shortages that have made it impossible to sustain our programs,” she said.

Families with children in the Bluewater Coast preschool program will be offered placement at the Relouw Early Childhood Learning Centre in Exeter, with care available beginning Sept. 2, and families using before and after school care will have tuition fees for the month of September waived.

In terms of the existing staff, Woodburn said the company is offering continued employment at its other centres.