MUSKOKA — The province’s full-time kindergarten program will launch this fall at eight schools in the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. Kindergarten classes in the board currently run all day, but on alternate days only.
In Muskoka, the schools involved in the first phase of the program this September will be Huntsville Public, Irwin Memorial in Dwight, K.P. Manson in Severn Bridge, and Watt in Utterson. The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board will launch the program at St. Mary’s in Huntsville.
The program is designed to provide the youngest students with an enriched and varied learning experience, according to Gale Sherin, superintendent of elementary school improvement and elementary operations.
Children as young as three will be going to school full time, saving working families some of the costs of day care.
The Ministry of Education has said the program will roll out over five years, with more schools added each year so that by 2015/16 every elementary school in Ontario will offer full-time kindergarten.
The Liberal government expects the program will cost about $1.5-billion, once fully implemented.
Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller thinks the cost is excessive. A press release from his office said the program will further stretch the limited tax dollars available to existing education programs.
“School boards already face significant funding challenges for special education, building maintenance and new projects like the Almaguin Secondary School,” he said. “In light of the province’s $24.7-billion deficit, is this really the right time to implement the full-day kindergarten program?”
Miller was attending pre-budget consultations with the provincial finance committee last week.
“I’m hearing from parents who say the government has to prioritize,” he said.
He met with parents involved with children’s mental health issues and they told him they would rather see money going to finance existing special education programs.
“These existing programs have to come before taking on new projects like full-day kindergarten,” he said. “Locally, you just have to look at the challenges with health care. I think we should be meeting our local needs before taking on new programs.”
He compared the government’s spending to family finances.
“We may want to buy the new car but if the credit card is at its limit, it’s not the time to take on more expenses,” he said.
Rick Willliams, commissioner of community services for the District of Muskoka, sees some pros and cons to the program. As an economic stimulus, he sees employment opportunities including improved employment for early childhood educators. At the same time he wonders what will happen to the existing programs for three- to five-year-olds.
“More than half the kids we serve are four- and five-year-olds, so unless there’s a major change in parental consumer habits with two- and three-year-olds, group programs will probably go into some decline and may be difficult to sustain in rural communities.”
Williams was part of a group of municipal officials who presented other options to the government. They looked at the pros and cons of the system and wanted to be a larger part of the new format.
“It would have been less costly and more effective if they built around a broader use of municipal resources,” he said. “The existing early childhood system had some real strengths. It’s more parent-focused with a better balance between social and play activities, rather than pre-academic activities.”
However, on the benefit side he said that many kids who might have missed out on existing opportunities will be likely to take part in the kindergarten system.
“I think the take-up rate with publicly paid JK/SK will be very high and that’s probably good for a lot of kids,” he said.
Annie Kidder of the parent-led provincial support group for public education, People for Education, sees strong economic benefits to the program.
“In these tough times it’s encouraging to see the government is sticking to a strategy that will be as good for families and children as it is for Ontario’s economic recovery. Early learning is one of the best stimulus investments a government can make to stem an economic downturn,” she said.
Elementary teachers also applaud the move to full-time kindergarten.
“We commend the government for its commitment to the welfare of young children. The decision took a lot of courage in today’s economic environment, but it will pay a lifetime of rewards, not only for children, but for our communities and the economy,” said Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.