Daycares located at public schools in Waterloo Region will not be opening until at least July 6, according to a release issued by the Waterloo Region District School Board.
“Child-care centres co-located in schools may open as early as July 6th however this date may be pushed back based on the readiness of our buildings or our childcare centre operators,” the board stated.
It also noted: “EarlyON Child and Family Centres will remain closed until Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health determines it is safe for them to open.”
It said that in the meantime, work is underway to get the facilities ready to receive children for daycares and summer camps.
The WRDSB said daycare operators will be in touch with parents to let them know what programs will be available when they do open.
On June 8, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that child-care centres would be allowed to open last Friday with limitations about how they would reopen which were provided in a 20-page document that child-care operators received on June 9.
While it may seem like a lengthy interval between when daycares were allowed to open and when they will open, a spokesperson for the WRDSB told Global News that there is a lot of steps that need to take place between the two events actually occurring.
“There is a delay because we need to make sure families have picked up their belongings, our staff are no longer in the building and our buildings have a deep clean, which takes time,” Lynsey Slupieks told Global News through email.
“The operators also require time to start up again meeting the new requirements and protocols in place from the Ministry. They will also have to ensure that protocols are in place for screening, cleaning and reporting and we also need to review those guidelines with Public Health.”
She said operators could also be facing other issues such as getting PPE and bringing staff back.
Waterloo Region CAO Mike Murray recently stated that the region, which operates five child-care centres, would be providing further details on its plan on Tuesday.
“It’s really challenging to open child-care centres in a way that’s safe and healthy for everyone involved,” he stated. “The staff, the children n and their families.”
The region is also the service system manager for child-care centres throughout the region so it has been in touch with many operators.
“Child-care operators are trying to open as quickly as they can but they recognize they need to do it in a safe and healthy way,” he explained.
The region has been operating two emergency child-care centres during the pandemic which will close on June 26 before needing to reopen as regular centres.
Three others have been closed including one which is operating out of a school.
He says that presents an extra challenge as the board will need to safely reopen the school before the child-care centre can reopen.