Marnie Van Esbroeck’s kitchen table has seen a lot of discussions about child care, because none of the families sitting at it, have consistent before and after school care, come September. “Within the four years that my daughter has attended her elementary school, her afterschool program has been canceled twice,” said Bayfield parent, Amy Blake. “We really are stuck. We have no resources, if there is no program available. We don’t have anybody that can help us cover, the before and after school period,” said Brucefield area parent, Jessica West. Hundreds of parents across Huron County are searching for before and after school care for their children, following a summer that saw very little improvement on the shortage, specifically in Southern Huron County. “As of June, the end of the school year, there were only four elementary schools in Huron County, that offered before and after school care. Since then, two of those programs have closed. Parents are left scrambling again. It’s like déjà vu in terms of what happened last August when London Bridge announced they’d be closing their programs,” said Marnie Van Esbroeck, who has 2 children she’d like enrolled in before and after school care. Van Esbroeck and her fellow frustrated parents, are asking the Avon Maitland District School Board to step up and run before and after school care programs, amidst the void of third party providers. “We need reliable solutions, so that’s why we are continuing to ask the school board to operate these programs, because we know they’d have better staff retention, and would be more reliable for families,” she said. The school board says while they understand parent’s frustrations, almost all of their third party child care providers are struggling to find Early Childhood Educators, and they’d be no different. “I can tell you that we don’t have surplus staff looking for jobs. Those folks are all working in those spaces in Kindergarten classes. We would be challenged to expand the footprint, and pick up before and after school care, too,” said Jane Morris, Superintendent of Education in charge of before and after school care, at the Avon Maitland District School Board, which covers Huron and Perth Counties. Parents say something needs to change, because there ability to work, is in jeopardy, without reliable care for their young children, before and after school, which is a provincial requirement for all Ontario school boards to provide, when there is sufficient demand. “Not everyone has the ability to work from home. Not everyone can reduce their hours. We are in an unsteady economy right now, and a lot of parents, in addition to this, are feeling or finding financial trouble,” said Bayfield parent, Blake. “We are so reliant on that program for us to make sure that we are able to continue working. To be able to pay for our home, to be able to pay for our children, you know, get them to school, and get us to work,” said Brucefield parent, West, seeking childcare for her two sons. Superintendent Morris says she is anticipating some relief for parents by the end of September. “I do feel fairly optimistic that we’ve got a couple of announcements coming this fall that will provide some support into some of our communities. We’re just working through the licensing, so we’re hopeful things are going to be improving in the coming months for sure,” said Morris. Van Esbroeck and her fellow South Huron parents, will believe it when they see it. “We all just feel very uncertain. There’s no timeline as for how long Ministry approvals will take, and we feel a lack of confidence that this is going to move forward,” said Van Esbroeck, who was just acclaimed as an Avon Maitland District School Board trustee for South Huron.
