Huron East Mayor Presented County Council With A Possible Solution To The Shortage of Day Care At This Week's Council Meeting

by Bob Montgomery

The demand for more day care is growing in Huron County and in most of the province.

Huron East Mayor, Bernie MacLellan suggested a possible solution to the growing demand at this week's county council meeting. He had a discussion with the director of the Avon Maitland District School Board and one of things they discussed was the province's interest in any possible reciprocal programs between municipalities and school boards. So MacLellan brought Huron East's Recreation Director, Lissa Berard, into the discussion.

Berard had an idea that would save money for the board and the municipality and create much needed space for child care in the area. Her suggestion was that they start a before and after school day care program using the school as the day care centre. Parents going to work before school hours could drop the kids off at the school and have them taken care of and then when school started they would simple be taken to their classroom. After school they would stay in the building and get the after school program at that time. And in exchange for that the school would get to use, maybe, some of the municipalities rec facilities, like the arena or pools, at times when they're not usually busy.

MacLellan says it would be a win – win for everybody. The only down side, which is the same problem regular day care is facing, is where do you get the qualified people to fill all of the staff positions. He says it's a great idea and an inexpensive idea because the municipalities aren't being charged for the use of the schools, and the schools aren't being charged for using the recreational facilities. The only catch, and it's big one, is finding enough qualified people to fill the staff positions.

MacLellan says he's not sure how they can move forward but he believes it has potential and would allow families the opportunity to go to work during regular hours, without having to wait until school starts and give children more access to recreational facilities. He believes both sides would be interested in a program like that but a lot of things would have to fall into place. They'd have to get the necessary approvals and the appropriate licences and then, the big one, the qualified staff. MacLellan says he believes if they can get the staff, the rest will come together.