Today the Parents of the CHANCES Kindergarten Program submitted a letter to the Premier asking why our children are being discriminated against because they will not fund this new kindergarten program in Stratford.
Parents of CHANCES Kindergarten Program
c/o April Ennis
RR#3, Montague
Summerville, PE
Civic #3811, C0A 1R0
August 22, 2008
Hon. Robert W. J. Ghiz
PO Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE
C1A 7N8
Dear Hon. Mr. Ghiz,
Currently Kindergarten is a publicly-funded, community-based model that will continue until the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development implements kindergarten programming within the school system by September 2010. We understand there will be a lot of time and energy needed to plan this transition, but we would like to bring the following concerns to your attention regarding the current system as it exists today.
Having access to this community-based model allows parents to make the choice of which quality kindergarten program that they wish to enroll their child into. Quality is an interpretation of many factors which may include the delivery of the program, relationship with the parents, work location of the parents, availability of space, reputation of centre and parent testimonials to name a few. Just because a standard curriculum is followed by all kindergartens, does not guarantee that the program will be delivered in a high quality manner. The simple fact is that there are great variations in the level of quality child care and kindergarten programs across Prince Edward Island. Accountability is left in the hands of the parents to make the right choice for their children in regards to which program will meet their needs best.
That being said, we are a group of parents who have enrolled our children into kindergarten at CHANCES – Mason Road Centre. This will be the first year for a kindergarten program at CHANCES. We all have different reasons for choosing this centre, but all agree that it is a reputable organization that provides high quality care and the best choice for our children. We even enrolled our children into this program knowing that we were going to have to pay for it because the Department of Education changed their funding policy in August 2006.
Please consider the two conditions in the revised policy:
“a)The Department of Education is satisfied that there is an unmet need for kindergarten spaces in the area; and”
The information that we have available to us is that the Glen Stewart Elementary School in Stratford has an enrollment of approximately 110 grade one students each year. Currently there are four publicly funded kindergarten programs in the Stratford area that provide a total of 60 kindergarten spaces. Therefore it appears that there is an unmet need of 50 kindergarten who do not have access to kindergarten in their community.
How does the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development calculate this measurement of unmet need? Please advise.
“b)That public funding be conditional upon a minimum of 10 children registered in the program. (This policy change does not affect existing kindergarten programs operating prior to July 21, 2006. The current minimum of 6 still applies to existing programs.”
Currently a full kindergarten class is a total of 12 children. If a kindergarten program is able to be funded with a minimum of six children, then it is possible that all PEI kindergarten programs could be fully funded with only 50% enrollment. How can the Department of Education claim to be financially accountable, given this? Why should a new kindergarten program be discriminated against just because they are new in the neighborhood?
As one can imagine, it would be a time consuming and costly endeavor to set up a new kindergarten program. Given that, CHANCES still made the decision to go ahead with their plan to open a new kindergarten program, knowing that kindergarten will enter the school system in September 2010. CHANCES is a non-profit organization which will not benefit from any financial gain by offering this kindergarten program. They recognized a need in the community and will benefit from the support that the children and families will receive.
Some of us have individually contacted government regarding our concerns but have been unsatisfied with the response we have received. One family has filed a Human Rights Complaint. We all agree that it is wrong for the Department of Education to refuse to fund this kindergarten program. So we come to you now, as a united group of concerned parents who wish to have our concerns addressed. Why should our children be discriminated against?
Our request is simple. Acknowledge that there is an unmet need in the Stratford area or change the policy to fund the kindergarten program at CHANCES. There is less than a month before kindergarten begins. Time is running out. We request a meeting to meet with you, Mr. Premier to address our concerns. Please contact April Ennis at (902) 620-1377 to schedule a meeting time at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Parents of CHANCES Kindergarten Program
3 Comments
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