Just seven months ago, teachers won a long-standing legal battle to have limits on class size and composition – arbitrarily removed 15 years ago by the B.C. Liberal government – restored in schools.
The legal fight simmered for years as the wheels of justice slowly turned. Meanwhile, the school system changed.
Maximum class sizes and numbers of special needs kids in classrooms crept upwards. Some schools were closed under pressure to make greater use of space. Leasing arrangements were struck to provide child care in unused classrooms.
Now, after years of being forced into a particular box by provincial policy, the education system is being asked to do a fairly quick 180.
Not surprisingly, there are domino effects. Some of these include more split grade classes, the need to hurriedly create new classrooms, and more kids in portables. There’s also the possibility of daycare spaces that currently operate out of schools being on the losing end of any squeeze for space.
For many families, access to convenient, quality child care is likely just as important as how many kids are in their children’s classrooms.
Nineteen child-care and preschool operations are run out of North Vancouver schools. That is significant in an area facing long wait-lists. From a community perspective, having daycares operate from a school environment also makes a lot of sense.
We hope when the new government gets down to business, a willingness to look holistically at and help fund the needs of families beyond the 9 to 3 school day will be part of the plan.
If we solve one problem, but in doing so create another, it’s hard to see how that will benefit anyone.
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