Family.
That is how Savanna Swan (Dillon) describes the owners and staff at Curious Minds Learning Centre, whose locations span four SD42 school sites including Maple Ridge Elementary, Glenwood Elementary, Eric Langton Elementary, and Maple Ridge Secondary School. Dillon's two children attend a before and after school program located at Glenwood and a program for those aged three to five at Eric Langton.
However, on Monday, parents and caregivers received a notice from the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows School District that the day care service at these school sites and two others operated by YMCA BC, will have a new operator: Saltair Childcare Society. And, parents whose children already receive day care services at these sites must re-enrol their children with the new operator by end of day on Thursday, Aug. 1, for the upcoming school year, if they want a spot.
According to their website, Saltair Childcare Society works under the banner of Inquiring Little Minds, (ILM), founded in September 2011. They operate in a private-public partnership – a long-term arrangement between a government institution and a private sector institution, and work in partnership with the City of Port Alberni, Cowichan Valley School District, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, Kamloops-Thompson School District, and Saltair Community Society.
Dillon is upset with the district's decision, saying it was done without the consent of the families, and now they have to "blindly" register with another day-care that she has never heard of before.
"I am trying to make sense of this all while potentially putting my children in the care of complete strangers. Something I am very understandably hesitant to do. Or worse losing out on childcare altogether," said the worried mother, adding that she has had no clarity over whether the new operators will even have licensing for Sept. 2.
And Dillon isn't the only person upset over this decision.
Stephanie Riley's son first went to Curious Minds when he was three, now he is 13. Riley said it upsets her that the new operators are taking all the clients from Curious Minds and with such short notice that parents don't have a choice but to register with the new operators.
"Curious Minds wasn't even given the time to let their families or staff know before the District shared the news via email blast and social media," said Riley.
The school district said they know some families are concerned about how the change in day care operators will impact them.
Information on the SD42 website explained that, "the school district issued a publicly advertised request for proposals (RFP) for day care service providers five years ago to select operators for a five-year term ending in 2024. A new publicly advertised RFP was issued by the district in April 2024 and resulted in a change to the child care operator at six school sites based on the award criteria."
They said they have developed a list of FAQs to address the common questions that have been raised by their decision has been added to the district website, which they will be asking YMCA BC and Curious Minds Learning Centre Ltd., to share with their families, as well as the new operators.
"We hope that this more thorough overview of the process and next steps will provide some clarity and reassurance to the families who have expressed concerns," said the district to The News, noting the district is committed to ensuring the highest quality of care and education for children in the community.
"We will work diligently to make this transition as smooth as possible while maintaining the standards our families expect and deserve."
Bill McCausland, a director of Curious Minds, and father of owner/operator Stefanie McCausland, explained that the school district had issued a Request for Proposal around May for anyone who wanted to apply to run day-cares at these school sites. They received the results in early July.
He takes two points of view. The school district, he emphasized, didn't do anything that wasn't above the board. The decision that they made was a business decision based on a difference in policies between the two operators, he said.
The issue, Bill noted, was the timing of the decision.
"Finding out at the beginning of July that you are no longer the provider at the end of August didn't give any time for either ourselves to find a different location or try to accommodate someplace else," he continued, saying they had no time to make any adjustments or do anything to protect their position with the children who attended their day-care.
"Effectively, knowing a sad point, we were going to hand over all of our business," he said.
And, he added, parents were basically told they had to apply or pre-register with the new provider at just an email address giving the child's name, the program they were in, and the facility they were at. He said during a normal process parents would look up day care providers, visit the locations, meet the operators, and feel comfortable leaving their children with them, especially when they are infants and toddlers or pre-school aged.
"Childcare spots are very difficult to find in the first place. But to have it so those parents are basically, they don't know who the caregivers are going to be. They don't know how the centre is going to be run or what's going to happen. They don't have a choice," he said.
"They still have no idea of what those costs are."
Another worried parent who is upset with the school district's decision is Amanda Wolfert, who said this "unexplained switch" has thrown her and other parents into a "nightmarish scramble. And, she compared reaching anyone at Inquiring Little Minds to pulling teeth.
"Fees, closure dates, staff qualifications, even their licensing status remain shrouded in secrecy. How can we entrust our children to a complete unknown?" she asked.
Stefanie McCausland said creating the business Curious Minds 17 years ago was a lifelong goal that she poured her heart and soul into. She grew her business through the school district.
She said if she was given a year's notice, it would still be a crushing blow, but she could have notified the parents this change was coming so they would have the opportunity to look elsewhere for child care and it would have left her with some time to find a space off of school grounds. Instead, she has been enroling children who were supposed to start in her preschool class in September.
"Consistency in care and love and everything that we've been giving them, familiarity for small babies, they need that. And for that to be ripped away from them and given a month's notice, really, that this big transition is going to go and happen is just heartbreaking," said McCausland.
McCausland has reconciled with the fact that her business will be closing.
However, she feels let down by the school district, because she said, she feels she did nothing wrong.
"I could understand if I wasn't paying my lease, or I was having issues with the schools or the school district, or if my licensing wasn't up to standards," said McCausland, or if she was receiving complaints from parents.
"I just feel let down because I was doing everything good and I had a really good reputation," she said, noting that she was disappointed that her reputation and relationship were not taken into account.
Alisha Neumann, founder of Inquiring Little Minds Education Center, apologized for delays responding to parent inquiries about the changeover, saying they have been overwhelmed with the number of emails and phone calls they have received.
Neumann confirmed child care centres can't be officially licensed until the operator takes possession.
"However, we are working closely with Fraser Health and School District 42 to streamline the licensing process and minimize any disruptions," she said, noting they will be taking possession of Edith McDermott and Fairview Elementary sites earlier in August, which should speed up the licensing process.
"For other school sites where possession occurs closer to the end of August, we are aiming for an opening dates as soon as possible."
Neumann said child care fees will be the same for families eligible for the Affordable Child Care Benefit, and promised to provide an exact fee structure by the end of this week, July 19.
"We know that the current operator has served the community for many years. We want families to know that their children will be in good hands," she said, adding that she plans to send out more information today to families who contacted them.
Wolfert said that as a concerned parent and a longtime member of the SD42 community, she is deeply disappointed with this decision.
"This lack of transparency and support is a slap in the face. Children deserve stability, and this decision rips away their familiar environment and trusted relationships," she added.
A petition has been started up by Dillon calling on the school district to reconsider their decision at: https://www.change.org.
The goal is 1,000 signatures and as of Wednesday, July 17, there were already 565 signatures.
