Full-day Kindergarten affects church-run preschools
Robert White Senior Correspondent
GUELPH, ON—Students, stipends and staff for church-run preschool programs have taken a hit because of Ontario’s push towards all-day Kindergarten. “We’ve had some families take
their children to the public system this year,” says Bev Broughton, director of Community and Family Services for Te Salvation Army in Guelph. Part of her responsibilities is the oversight of a nursery school and Junior Kindergarten (JK) pro- gram that cares for children 18 months to five years old. “We’ve known this has been
coming for a while,” she says of the drop in registrations. “Now we don’t just have a JK, it’s a Senior Preschool/JK that mixes older chil- dren with enriched activities. It’s not sustainable as a straight JK.” Te provincial government’s move
to the new format for its youngest students relies on a 2009 report by early childhood education expert Charles Pascal that calls for all-day
Church-run preschool programs have taken a hit due to Ontario’s push towards all-day Kindergarten.
Kindergarten to be instituted by Ontario schools. Citing a large num- ber of children who arrive in Grade 1 unprepared, Pascal reported: “Te current fragmented patch-
work of early childhood services too oſten fails the interests of our children, frustrates families and educators, and wastes resources… “Te smartest thing we can do
right now…is to ensure that all Ontario children have an even- handed opportunity to succeed in school, become lifelong learners and pursue their dreams.” By the fall of 2009 pilot programs
were held in a small number of schools. By September 2010 nearly
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600 schools offered the program for four and five-year-olds. Te province plans to have full-day Kindergarten in all schools by fall 2014. While the Army’s program has
only lost a few students to date, other preschools have closed, including the popular Little Lamb Preschool in Waterloo. Run by Messiah Evangelical
Lutheran Church, the school closed in May aſter 25 years of operation. A recent open house in the preschool building, built beside the church in 1993 when more room was needed, allowed former staff, parents and students to say goodbye. “Te school came to an end ear-
lier this year when numbers began dwindling with the introduction of full-day Junior Kindergarten in the neighbourhood,” says open house organizer and church member Carol
Walrath in a recent Record article. Te loss of students means
some programs will have to drop JK altogether, says Broughton. But the enrolment drop is only one of the issues preschools face due to all-day Kindergarten. “Te government will be making
more and more funding unavailable for older children,” says Broughton. Currently funding comes from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. By next year funding will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. “What used to be available
from Children and Youth Services will come from Education—and Education is allotting the money in a different way,” she says. Less money also means less
staff. Schools employ certified teachers to staff the Kindergarten classes. But they also employ staff with Early Childhood Education (ECE) certification as classroom assistants—many of whom used to work in church-run JKs. “We have a hard time getting
ECEs because of the wage dispar- ity,” says Broughton. “[Schools] can pay a much higher rate and the benefits are better. “Tere’s a shortage of staff com- ing down the pike.”
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