In anticipation of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union’s work-to-rule job action planned for this week, representatives from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development spent last week contacting childcare providers in an effort to compose a list of viable alternatives for parents.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia schools to reopen Tuesday, work-to-rule still in place
Education Minister Karen Casey announced Saturday that all schools would be closed to students Monday, citing safety concerns as the main reason. Casey announced Monday that schools would reopen Tuesday, but the original announcement had left many parents scrambling to find adequate childcare.
Mandy Fahie, owner of After the Bell Inc. said that while she was impressed by the department’s initiative, she was surprised by their apparent willingness to bend the rules.
“I started to become concerned when I told them I was full with a waiting list and I told them I wouldn’t be able to be two-thirds trained with my staffing,” Fahie said.
“They were willing to let me be an unregulated program and have safety checks not done on staff.”
Day camps for school-aged children do not require licensing so long as they are offered at a separate location from a licensed facility and staff are not working in a regulated setting at the same time.
“It was a bit alarming for me and I automatically turned away from offering those spaces because I believe in licensed school-age programs.”
She said she believes by cancelling school on Monday, the government put many parents into a tough situation where they had to choose between leaving their children at home, putting them into expensive day camps, or placing them in an unregulated facility.
READ MORE: Government holds off on imposing contract on Nova Scotia teachers
“The first thing I did was check on Kijiji to find out how many were offering unregulated services and there was a lot,” Fahie said.
“A lot of families didn’t have time to budget for this childcare and with weeks away from Christmas, it would have effected a lot of low-income families.”
She said she had to turn down a number of families after the announcement on Saturday morning, adding that 48 hours is not enough to conduct a thorough registration process.
“I always tell parents to come in unannounced so they can see the program for what it really is. I think parents really need to sit down and choose carefully about where they put their children,” Fahie said.
“I think that the licensing department should be going out and checking if these programs are being run properly and that safety is at the forefront for children of Nova Scotia.”
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A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development told Global News that there has been no changes to the requirements or restrictions under the Day Care Act despite recent events.
“The health and safety of children in our regulated child care programs is always our first priority,” said Heather Fairbairn in a statement.
“Requirements around ratios, space and background checks are paramount to ensuring the health and safety of children and have not changed. We are continuing to work with the sector to understand if they may have any spaces available and to get a better idea of their plans in response to the withdrawal of services by the NSTU and the decision by government to close schools to ensure student safety. ”
READ MORE: Nova Scotia parents, students rally outside schools in support of teachers
She said that at no time would the department consider actions or approvals of licenses that would allow the health and safety of children to be compromised.
Lisa Rondeau, co-owner of Giant Steps Children’s Centre, said she was contacted on Friday by a department representative and asked if it would be possible to expand their spaces.
“I wanted to know what she meant. I wasn’t clear on what she was asking us to do and she said that some centres were providing care in spaces they had available,” said Rondeau, adding she told the representative that while they do not have any open classrooms, they did have a gymnasium.
She was then told that it was possible that if they wanted to apply for an extension of the number of spaces they offer, above and beyond the 120 they’re already licensed for, they could do so in that gym space.
“I wasn’t really comfortable with that. I wanted to know how we could possibly do that when there’s so many regulations.”
Rondeau said she told the representative that they didn’t have any furniture in the gymnasium and it would be awkward to try to move children around the centre. Despite that, the department representative told her that if they were interested, an inspection could be arranged.
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“I’m assuming that she knew that we run a great program and she was confidant we could arrange proper accommodations, but I wasn’t comfortable doing that.”
Despite her Upper Tantallon childcare centre being tailored for children five and under, Rondeau said she was told she could apply for an age-range change.
“Again, it’s just a flexibility of the rules. I wasn’t comfortable with putting five-year-olds in with their toddler siblings in an environment that isn’t conducive to them being safe and comfortable.”
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