EXCERPTS.
One-time funding of $1 million will be shared by hundreds of licensed child care providers in B.C. to ease the impact of completing the provincewide move to full-day kindergarten in September.
About 900 providers will receive a cheque from the Ministry of Children and Family Development this spring in anticipation of expanded full-day kindergarten affecting enrolment at privately run facilities.
Payments will be based on a site's licensed spaces, which range from two to 80 in the category being considered -group care for children from 30 months to school age.
The money will go to nearly 23,000 child care spaces, and will result in an average payment of more than $1,000 to each provider.
Money can be used to purchase books, toys and other materials or pay for professional development and training programs.
About half of B.C.'s elementary schools went from half-to full-day kindergarten last September. The rest will follow this September to bring the number of kindergarten students on full-day schedules to about 40,000.
The move has resulted in provincial funds to many school districts to add classrooms, including $10 million in Sooke and $2.3 million in Saanich.
- reprinted from The Vancouver Sun