The Greater Victoria School Board says it’s committed to finding a new child-care provider for a building next to Rogers Elementary before spring break, but the group now offering services there said it still doesn’t know why it’s being told to leave after 32 years.
In a letter sent to Rogers Elementary families on Tuesday, school board chair Nicole Duncan said the district will issue a request for proposals from qualified child-care service providers in the “coming weeks,” and an evaluation committee will review all applications.
Amber McMillan, executive director of the not-for-profit Rogers Society — which has been running child-care programs in the building since 1991 — said a separate letter informed the organization that it still has to vacate the facility by June 30. She said the society provides 63 child-care spaces.
“Nothing has actually been clarified or explained to us, except they’re obviously trying to reassure families,” she said. “It feels like we’re being shut out.”
The situation has raised concerns among parents and leaves summer camps run by the society in question, McMillan said, since her group has to vacate by June 30, and the new provider will start in September.
McMillan said that along with child care, the society provides a children’s theatre program, clothing swaps and an LGBTQ support initiative.
The North Quadra Community Association has sent a letter to the school board in support of the society, she said.
In her letter, Duncan said the RFP will outline service requirements, such as giving priority enrolment to school families and those currently in programs.
A new provider must continue to operate such programs as full-time care for children ages three to five, before- and after-school care and preschool, she said.
