Downtown New West officially loses 72 daycare spaces

Editor's note: if you'd like to see the play-by-play recap a la Twitter, feel free to check out the thread. 

Tuesday's school board meeting came just weeks after the board affirmed that the Purpose Society-run daycares at Qayqayt Elementary and Fraser River Middle School (FRMS) would be required to leave their current locations next year.

It was an expected move, but the daycares are officially heading to F.W. Howay and Lord Tweedsmuir, meaning the movement of 72 infant and toddler childcare spaces out of the downtown New West core. 

But there was more to talk about than just the daycare spaces. 

From hybrid to in-person meetings

The meeting opened with a number of comments from parents about two motions from trustee Dee Beattie to move to in-person board meetings beginning next month, while doing the same for operations policy and planning committee meetings by February. 

Of those who spoke during visitor presentations near the start of the meeting, many were unimpressed with the idea. 

"I was really concerned to hear that there is a motion on the floor now stating that everything should return to in-person," said Doug Herasymuik of the F.W. Howay DPAC. Herasymuik, a health-care worker, says he's been impacted greatly by what's happened over the last few years with COVID-19. "Some of the community groups, or within my trade union, there's been a pivot to where initially we had to do everything virtually. Now there is the opportunity for hybrid meetings, and I think that it's crucial that the hybrid model continues to be offered."

James Plett, who also talked about the next stages of daycare movement, noted before he spoke that he could hear his young daughter trying to go to sleep in the other room as he presented. 

"I have to think that the last three or four speakers would not have been able to speak if this was an in-person meeting only ... and we're not just [in] a pandemic. Like, we're in a full-blown medical crisis," he explained, citing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), colds, COVID, and flu. 

"I also worry that such a move would serve to ... disenfranchise parents, members of the public, and it would make it difficult for them to attend these meetings, especially for parents with kids who go to bed around 7 or 8pm."

Some participants also cited concerns around social anxiety, noting that it was easier to speak to people over a stream versus in-person. 

At discussion time, Beattie said the spirit of the motion was to do things in-person because some conversations were necessary to have in that format, citing in-depth presentations as an example. There was also a concern for newer trustees, with some discussing a benefit for help with the learning curve or being able to do their jobs more effectively. 

"We have purchased the equipment [for online streaming], that was done prior to COVID ... so that we could properly stream onto YouTube ... I don't know where it got lost that we don't stream this particular meeting onto YouTube while we're live," said Beattie, who went on to ask if it was worth doing some kind of mixed or hybrid option, with some meetings in-person, and some on Zoom. 

Trustees Maya Russell, Marc Andres, Cheryl Sluis, and Elliot Slinn said they appreciated the feedback from parents, while trustee Danielle Connelly also noted it'd be important to consider costs of upgrading equipment, if needed. 

Supt. Karim Hachlaf said there'd previously been a quote for newer equipment, but it was outdated. Hachlaf said it would be worth getting staff to look at the options and costs. 

The motion was tabled, with the hope staff would present clear options to allow parents in the community to be involved if trustees were to meet in-person. The second motion regarding the January timeline was not formally put on the floor, so trustees agreed that will also be looked at in the new year. 

The daycare and school space situation

Parents continued to feel stung by the removal of daycare spaces from Qayqayt Elementary and FRMS.  

Some asked why there wasn't consultation offered about where to move the spaces to. Parent Allison Clavelle says after reading the city's memo in Monday night's agenda package, she took some time to reflect on the city's understanding of the space crisis. 

"The first thing that occurred to me as I read this letter is that the city's memo notes minimal warning to the city ... according to this memo—that is not really sufficient, trying to come together to find a meaningful solution," said Clavelle, seemingly referring to page 174 in the Dec. 12 city council package. 

On Monday night, council voted to send a letter from mayor and council to the minister of education and childcare asking for help from senior governments in addressing the space crunch. 

The memo explains the city's role in facilitating childcare, which included the establishment of the Child Care Protocol about a decade ago, which would allow for the development of Neighbourhood Learning Centre (NLC) spaces on school sites. "The Province provided funding to allow up to 15% additional floor space for dedicated community uses such as child cares and early learning programming," the memo reads. During a survey distributed in 2010—in which 1,000 participants responded—three locations were identified as having a need for NLC spaces: New West Secondary, Qayqayt Elementary, and FRMS. 

"The city provided $44,000 in financial assistance to furnish and equip these spaces, facilitated a donation in support of a community kitchen, and covers the administrative cost of a navigator position at the Welcome Centre," page 173 of the memo reads. It adds there was previously city funding for childcare in school spaces, including $1.2 million for a pre-school aged childcare facility at Skwo:wech Elementary and $180,950 for the relocation, retrofitting, and operationalizing of three school portables to create 78 childcare spaces in Queensborough. 

"The city has also provided numerous childcare grants to Westminster Children's After School Society, which operates 10 school age care programs in the schools."

According to the memo, $2.8 million was obtained from the Child Care BC New Spaces program to help with the current relocation, with the city pointing out "no new spaces are being created."

In the discussion section of the memo, city staff say they were informed of the decision to move the two daycares as October's council break for elections took place. 

"City staff was informed about the School District's intention regarding NLC spaces on October 3, 2022 ... with a decision by the School Board scheduled for December 13, 2022. In the correspondence from the School District dated November 7, 2022, the School District states: “We are writing to you now, as a community partner, but also as an entity tied to, responsible for, and intimately aware of the child care challenges New West families face, to work alongside the District and Purpose Society (the non-profit operator), in helping them with their search for an alternate location Downtown for child care spaces for infant/toddler programming.”

The memo goes on to say it would take "months of planning to identify a potential location," noting that, "in this case, the city has been given a little over two months." The memo reiterates the importance of finding district-owned property to fulfill funding requirements from the ministry of education and childcare. 

As the motion was discussed, secretary-treasurer Bettina Ketcham confirmed that Purpose Society had accepted the offer to move the daycares out of Qayqayt Elementary and FRMS to F.W. Howay and Lord Tweedsmuir. 

"Ultimately, between the three respective parties [Purpose Society, the City of New Westminster and the School Board] ... when you consider either funding, our timeline, or practicality, there were no particular solutions that were identified that present themselves in our timeline tonight on a downtown solution," explained Ketcham, confirming the timeline for the two spaces to move by March 2024. The spaces would be converted into classroom use by September 2024. 

Connelly asked for assurance that there was still work being done to help find daycare spaces in the downtown core. 

"We're always willing and able to provide assistance to any stakeholder in terms of trying to provide opportunities and assistance in finding a downtown location. I will clarify, however, that once the board makes its decision surrounding accepting this new space's funding, it is tied to a particular agreement, and that agreement does stipulate for the relocations to these particular sites," noted Ketcham. "But that does not preclude staff from still providing assistance where we can in finding solutions that are community oriented ... whether it's with Purpose Society, or the city, or any other sort of stakeholder that might bring ideas to the table."

The motion was carried unanimously. 

Other items of note

• Cameras at NWSS. A letter from the New Westminster Teachers' Union has requested "video cameras be placed back into the common areas of New Westminster Secondary School, in the same manner as they were installed in the decommissioned NWSS." The letter cites a number of recent incidents, including a second-floor bathroom being set on fire on Nov. 16, and a separate arson event on Nov. 16.

• Better promotion of ERASE. Hachlaf says the school board is looking to better raise awareness of the ERASE reporting tool, and making sure that students, parents, and caregivers know it's there.

• Next DPAC meeting. This is happening Jan. 19 at 7pm.

• Discover New Westminster Schools. This is happening Jan. 10 and will start at 6:30pm at NWSS.

• Student and Affordability Fund. This was the money that came from the province in August, meant to help with various school-related expenses and inflation. Ketcham said that the district was well on its way to spending it all by June, as mandated by the BC government.

The next school board meeting is happening on Jan. 31 at 7pm.