Vacant classrooms in rural Manitoba will become new licensed child-care spaces under a five-year Family Choices strategy designed to fund 6,500 such spots.
For Birtle’s Morning Star Day Care Inc., it means spending $30,000 to upgrade flooring and lighting in a former high school classroom to accommodate eight infants, 12 preschoolers and 19 nursery school children.
Jody Couvier, the centre’s director, said a baby boom in the community is putting pressure on the centre.
The day care began as a place for teen mothers to bring their babies while they were in class. It continues in that role but has expanded as more classrooms became available. The program is housed in Birtle Collegiate, home to students from Grades 7 to 12.
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A handful of staff now provide care for children, aged 12 weeks to 12 years old, from the town and surrounding rural area.
“Licensed day care is needed in any community,” Couvier said.
She also sees benefits in helping children make the transition from home to day care to school by being inside a school. High school students can also volunteer at the centre and earn school credits.
“It gives them the opportunity to experience young children too. It’s positive all around,” she said.
In total, 10 Manitoba schools with surplus rooms will be modified to house 343 children at a cost of $1.5 million.
Gord Mackintosh, provincial minister of family services and housing, said the centres will be convenient for local families and provide stable long-term service for the community.
“It helps keep the school open, and enhances the role of the school in the community, makes the school more sustainable,” he said.
“Schools are expensive public investments and assets paid for by taxpayers,” he said. “It’s very cost effective to fill spaces with children while fulfilling a community need.”
He noted how the village of Waskada was able to keep its school open by establishing a day care there.
Day cares are also important in towns like Winkler and Morden in offering services to an increased population of immigrant workers settling there.
In addition to exploring more flexible hours to accommodate seasonal needs of farm families, the new strategy is fast-tracking day-care provider licences and providing a three percent wage increase for child-care workers, funding for 100 nursery school spaces for low-income families and workplace training.
