'Seamless' child care pilot at North Delta elementary school to double next fall

A pilot project providing "seamless" low-cost child care at one North Delta elementary is expanding this fall, with an eye towards possibly offering the program at other schools in the district.

Last month, the Delta School District joined the Ministry of Education and Child Care's Seamless Day Kindergarten pilot program, in which certified early childhood educators to provide before- and after-school care in kindergarten classrooms and support learning alongside classroom teachers.

First piloted at Oliver Elementary School in the Okanagan-Similkameen School District in September of 2019, the program makes use of existing classrooms outside of school hours and does not require new rooms or buildings. It is now offered at more than 36 schools across the province.

Delta's pilot program at Sunshine Hills Elementary currently provides space for 12 kindergarten-aged students and their siblings.

With the project's potential to address critical childcare demands, the district has decided to double the number of spots in order to provide spaces for students starting kindergarten this September while keeping the children currently enrolled in the program.

"We are thrilled to be able to expand this program to more families as there is clearly a need for high-quality, low-cost child care options in our community," Marne Hopkinson, principal of child care and early learning at the Delta School District, said in a press release.

The program is and will be staffed by existing Delta education assistants, members of CUPE local 1091.

Daun Frederickson, CUPE 1091 president and a school support worker in the Delta School District, said the local's members are dedicated to public schools and want to build careers here in Delta.

"This pilot project expansion provides the opportunity for full-time hours, while offering students more stability throughout the day in a high-quality early learning environment," Frederickson said in a press release.

"Delta already has the schools to house these spots, and the trained, qualified and dedicated staff to offer the care. This expansion is great for the school district, for CUPE members, and for students and families."

The pilot is currently only offered at Sunshine Hills and only open to students at that school, however Hopkinson said the district is going through the process of meeting with administrators at other schools that have expressed an interest in the program and have the capacity to host it.

"Currently, only schools in North Delta are exploring the potential to host a future Seamless Day [Kindergarten] site," Hopkinson said in an email to the Reporter.

"We anticipate that the Ministry of Education and Child Care will ask school districts to indicate how many Seamless Day grants they would like to receive for the 2023/2024 school year later in May."

Hopkinson said Sunshine Hills was chosen to host the pilot after based on the results of a survey conducted earlier this year asking the district's elementary school parents about their child care needs.

"Sunshine Hills was identified as one of the school communities needing child care," said Marne Hopkinson, Principal of Child Care and Early Learning. "We also reviewed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data, and this data supported the decision to host the pilot at Sunshine Hills Elementary."

Grant funding from the province covers the early childhood educators' salaries while they are in the classroom, but the before- and after-school care portion of their time is paid for by parents. The fees charged by the district are aimed at having the program "break even."

Currently, the cost is $520 per month per child, though government grants allow the district to reduce the cost for a kindergarten-aged child to $200 per month.

In September, a $115 per month grant will reduce the cost for students in Grade 1 and higher to $405 per month.

In an email to the Reporter, a representative from the Ministry of Education and Child Care said the province the province will be announcing the districts and schools taking part in the Seamless Day Kindergarten program this year "in the next few weeks."