New School - Out-of-School Care

This update from January 20, 2018  is from  Action on Out-of-School Care Vancouver      , a concerned group of Tennyson Parents

With the first PAC meeting of 2018 approaching, I wanted to provide an update on out-of-school care at the new school:

  • We met with Judy Zaichkowsky (VSB Trustee liaison to Lord Tennyson) in December to express our concerns at how out-of-school care had *not* been addressed in the seismic upgrade design process.
  • I presented at the DPAC meeting in December, and the DPAC shared our petition with their mailing list.
  • The VSB informed us that they had sent the attached letter to the Province explicitly asking the government to include out-of-school care in the area standards, which set the fundamental design parameters for all new builds / seismic upgrades.
 
We are still unclear whether the new school will actually have the same number of spots for out-of-school care as we do now (105 spots).  The main issue is the way in which the existing spots will be divided in the new school: it is unclear that the two existing on-site programs (YMCA and TOSS) can continue to provide the same level of service as they do now.  And the 20 out-of-school care spots that are supposed to be provided in the 3rd floor space (i.e. getting us from 85 to 105 spots) are not guaranteed: the most we have is that the RFP will “strongly encourage” that care providers incorporate this “program as part of the proposed childcare model”. 
 
With Budget 2018 approaching, it seems timely to remind parents that the current government campaigned on a platform that included childcare. 

Action on Out-of-School Care Vancouver, a concerned group of Tennyson Parents, is asking for your help.  Budget 2018 will be here in February and we need it to contain adequate funding for out-of-school care.

Here’s what we need from you:

  • Email the school MLAs, Education Minister, Minister of State for Childcare and Minister of Health
  • Sign the petition
  • Share the petition broadly: this issue is bigger than Lord Tennyson!

Here are some more details:

Budget 2018 is coming!

We need YOU to show your support for out-of-school care so that the Province dedicates adequate funding in the upcoming budget.  We need to tell them how much out-of-school care matters when it comes to being able to afford to live in Vancouver!

Want to email your MLA but not sure what to say?  Here is some sample email content that you can adapt:

Dear Sirs and Madams,

I am writing to you to express my concern about the shortfall in funding for out-of-school care for K - Gr. 6 students.

Lord Tennyson Elementary has more than 200 families on the waiting list for out-of-school care, but the new school design currently does not replace the existing service level for out-of-school care.

Please follow through on the NDP’s campaign commitments to support both childcare and schools.  Revisiting the funding formula and the area standards for schools is essential to ensure that we are not building infrastructure today that does not meet current or future needs of modern families.  Unless out-of-school care is funded at the same level as 0-4 year daycare, we risk aggravating a system that is already under huge strain.  In Vancouver alone, we are short 9,100 spaces in out-of-school care: 100 spots for every elementary school.  Committing additional funding in the 2018 Budget to building out-of-school care would help the government deliver on multiple ministerial priorities (Health/Childcare, Education), and campaign commitments.

Thank you in advance for working to “make British Columbian’s lives more affordable” and “improving the services that we count on”.

YOUR NAME, YOUR POSTAL CODE

Please email the school catchment MLAs:

And copy:


Not sure of your MLA?  https://www.leg.bc.ca/Pages/BCLASS-Search-Community.aspx?PlaceFirstLetter=V&