Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
Daycares now have permission from the province to reopen - but Wildflowers in Jasper needs a funding boost in order to do so.
A reopening plan is being worked on with guidelines from the provincial government and Wildflowers will be able to safely accommodate 24 children for daycare and eight for Out of School Care.
Before COVID-19, the daycare accommodated 76 to 78 children and Out of School Care had 45 to 50.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 open on a reasonably cost recovery,鈥� said Lisa Daniel, Childcare Services manager, as she presented her request to council this week.
鈥淲e need $103,000 to reopen safely and operate under the new recommendations.鈥�
Wildflowers childcare programs will need more financial support because of the new limits in occupancy, required screening, increased cleaning procedures and restrictions on staff per cohort.
Daniel said the programs cannot open with a reasonable cost recovery - unless council directs a significant increase in user fees to cover operating costs.
And user fees were already set to increase July 1 as the Early Learning Child Care grant from the province that was allowing $25 per day fees comes to an end.
Provincial funding for Wildflowers dropped by $27,000 in January and the Municipality of Jasper reduced the Childcare Services budget by $14,475 in May.
These funding cuts mean there will be higher fees for both Wildflowers Childcare and Out of School Care with, or without, the pandemic.
For daycare, if fees are set at $1,134 per child per month, that brings in a revenue of $27,216 - but staff costs and other expenses add up to $37,415. If fees covered the whole amount, families would be billed $1,559 per child per month.
鈥淔ollowing months of unemployment, many families will have less capacity than ever to pay high childcare fees,鈥� said Daniel.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think families can afford to pay $1,500.鈥�
Daniel said most private daycares charge less than $1,000 per month and Wildflowers鈥� fees are one of the highest in the province, partly due to the workers being unionized.
She said 20 of the daycare鈥檚 potential 24 spaces have been spoken for and six of the eight for Out of School Care. The first spaces will go to essential workers.
鈥淣ot everyone is ready to come back and it鈥檚 not the right time for a lot of our families but others in our community need us,鈥� she said.
Mayor Richard Ireland said reopening the daycare would help Jasper鈥檚 community economy recover but said he would like to hear from other people in the community on the topic.
To submit feedback, send an email addressed to Mayor and council to [email protected] or use the online portal at .
