EXCERPTS:
Peel Region employees will learn what the future holds for the Region's 12 child care centres at a meeting tonight in Brampton.
At the meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Pearson Convention Centre, staff will get their first look at a report that will go before Peel Council next week.
The report, which won't be made public until tomorrow, looks at how Ontario's full-day kindergarten initiative will impact the Region's child care program.
The report indicates that demand for daycare spaces, particularly for children ages four and five, will decline considerably after full-day kindergarten is fully implemented in 2014.
There is growing speculation that the report, compiled by KPMG consultants, will recommend that Peel shut down some or all of its daycare facilities.
Parents, as well as local labour groups and child care advocates, are all anticipating the Jan. 26 meeting of Regional Council, where the report that could determine the fate of Peel child care centres will be voted on.
Parents are being asked to call their Regional councillors.
The Peel chapter of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is asking to address Regional Council on Jan. 26.
The Elementary Teachers' Federation says key issues concerning the Peel municipal child care centre report need to be addressed. The teachers' union says:
- Extensive consultation on this issue involving Peel parents needs to be held.
- More than 800 families will be affected if the closure goes ahead.
- More than 200 jobs in Peel will be lost.
- Because these centres offer high-quality child care at about $10 a day less than most private operators, parents will pay an additional $2,400 per child a year for child care.
-reprinted from Mississauga.com