Mark Page Donald Richardson, Thomas Bobiki, Janet Bobiki, and Coralie Richardson look forward to the opening of the the Nakusp Early Learning Childcare Centre at Nakusp Elementary.

Image Credit: Mark Page, Local Journalism Initiative

The brand new Nakusp Early Learning Childcare Centre was bustling with children and parents on a rainy January night as School District 10 held the first open house at the sparkling $3.15 million facility. The centre is attached to Nakusp Elementary and hosted about 30 people for the January 11 open house, with another 10 showing up for a second timeslot on January 14.

Sitting on the floor of the new infant and toddler classroom with her son, Donald, Coralie Richardson talked about how hard it is to find childcare in Nakusp for kids under two-and-a-half. At that age, there are waiting lists and requirements for the children to be potty-trained, she said. Donald will be two in February.

“I’ve been back at work for a year, finding people to look after him,” Richardson said.

One of those helping look after Donald is Janet Bobiki, who was sitting in the classroom with her son, Thomas and partner, Erik. They are also eagerly awaiting the opening of the centre.

“We’ve been waiting a long time,” Bobiki said, adding that Thomas has been on a waiting list for childcare for almost two years.

The centre will be the first such facility in the province to be staffed with district employees. Daycares exist within other schools but are run by outside organizations. 

This is causing delays with hiring, as new staff must be part of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and positions need to be created under their collective bargaining agreement.

“That is where it is a bit of a one-of-a-kind,” said SD 10 Superintendent Peter Dubinsky. “To my knowledge, this is the only centre yet to open that is full-service operated and managed by a school district.”

It will cater to school-aged children for before- and after-school care and offer daycare for preschoolers. This will include a class specifically for kids under two years old – something Nakusp needs, according to parents at the open house. 

Difficulties with hiring these early childhood educators will delay the opening for the infant and toddler program, said new Nakusp Elementary vice-principal and district lead for the centre, Tim Van Brummelen. There is a requirement that infant and toddler caregivers get an additional certification, contributing to a shortage of eligible hires.

Those classes also require a four-to-one student-teacher ratio while multi-age daycare can have an eight-to-one ratio. The multi-age classes can have a very limited number of children under three years old, so there may be spaces open for a few toddlers in these classes before the infant-toddler dedicated class opens.

Fees for childcare are set by the provincial government and there are several levels of subsidies to make it affordable for parents. The base rates will be about $600 per month, and parents earning less than $116,000 per year can apply to have fees reduced further, with the lowest earners not having to pay any fees at all, according to Van Brummelen.

Collecting fees is new to SD 10 and has been a big learning process for both the district and Van Brummelen, whose experience is in K-12 education. He came to Nakusp after working as a principal at Rose Valley Elementary in Kelowna, taking less pay to be able to live in this area and enjoy what he said was a boost in quality of life.

Planning for the centre began back in 2020 after the district received a $3 million grant from the provincial government from the New Spaces Fund for community-based childcare. The Columbia Basin Trust also chipped in $150,000.

The project struggled to get underway during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, beset by delays due to difficulties with construction and hiring. The initial goal for the opening date was May 2022.

Dubinsky said the district still can’t complete the hiring process until they get a better idea of how many students are likely to be attending the different classes. 

“You can’t staff until you know how many kids,” Dubinsky said, adding “There’s a shortage of early childhood educators in BC.”

Once registration is complete, Van Brummelen said he will create a schedule for the centre. After-school programs will definitely run from 3 to 5:30 pm, while daycare will be something like 8 am to 5 pm but could start as early as 7:30 am and go as late as 5:30 pm depending on need and staffing levels. Before-school sessions will run if needed.

Opening dates have not yet been announced. Registration will begin soon and details will be posted on the SD 10 Arrow Lakes Nakusp Early Learning Childcare Centre Facebook page.

“We don’t anticipate any delays past February – barring any unforeseen circumstances,” Dubinsky said.

— This story was originally published by the Valley Voice.

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