‘Saying goodbye a second time’: Kids from burnt Hazel Trembath school displaced after daycare closes

Some parents in Port Coquitlam are worried about what comes next after being told their daycare is closing at the end of the month.

A fire at Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam in October 2023 displaced approximately 200 students from their usual classrooms. Now, many of those same kids are being told to move again.

Children who attended the Hazelwood Early Learning Centre daycare program at the school moved to a temporary location at TriCity Church, but that lease is up at the end of June.

Parents were hoping for a new location in the James Park Elementary School Annex, but say the application has not been approved because there is only one toilet in the space.

Fraser Health says “no final licensing decision has been made.”

Liz Da Cunha’s five-year-old daughter attended the daycare at Hazel Trembath.

“(We’re) saying goodbye a second time,” Da Cunha said.

“We were playing and she’s saying, ‘We are moving,’ and I have to explain to her there’s no new place to go to.”

Da Cunha works as a full-time registered nurse at B.C. Children’s Hospital.

“I rely on child care to be able to sleep and go to work so that I can take care of sick babies,” she said.

Fraser Health told CTV News in a statement that “licensing reviews include an assessment of various factors, such as space feasibility and washroom ratios, to ensure all health and safety requirements are met.”

The health authority said its licensing team “has been in contact with the applicant and is awaiting further information from them.”

The closure of Hazelwood’s daycare would leave 16 children displaced.

Caitlin McNeil is currently the manager of daycare. She says despite the temporary location, waitlists have been full.

“In this community, it is needed,” she said. “Our waitlist was growing even after the fire. Even with us telling people we are in a temporary location, they are still coming. The need is here.”

The parents say they have been in touch with the city as well as local MLAs to push for another location.

“Quality child care is hard to come by and often comes with waitlists,” said Kayla Doucette, another Hazelwood parent.

“A lot of the calls I am making, they have no spots available right now. They might in September. They might six months from now.”

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West told CTV News he has been in contact with both Fraser Health and the school district to find an alternative solution. He is pushing for the province to step up on rebuilding Hazel Trembath.

“There’s still no school,” said Da Cunha. “They haven’t started building a school. There’s kids all over the place and now nowhere for these preschool kids to go.”