EMO—The idea to start a nursery school program in Emo no longer is going ahead.
But since both the township and the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board seemed to be on board with the project, it’s possible a misunderstanding halted progress.
“We actually said to go ahead with it, so I was a little surprised to hear it,” Emo Reeve Ed Carlson noted Tuesday.
“It’s unfortunate but at this time, Emo council is not prepared to move forward with them looking at a nursery school program there,” noted Jeannette Cawston, local co-ordinator of the “Best Start” program.
“But they were more than willing to offer us a space and location if someone else was interested in bringing a nursery school program to Emo,” she added.
“It just was not enough time for them,” Cawston added. “It was kind of like a negative-positive thing.”
Cawston addressed Emo council back on May 23, suggesting a nursery school program would be possible there.
“We looked at where [the] need is for early learning and one of those areas was Emo,” she had noted during her proposal. “There are start-up funds available for toys and materials.”
The funds were left available after the new Conservative government in Ottawa offered just one year of funding for the “Best Start” program and the local school boards decided against instituting it.
But although Cawston suggested the idea and offered some funding, she said Monday it wasn’t DSSAB’s intention to run the program.
“The funding is made available through DSSAB so it had to be through a provider,” she explained. “Typically, DSSAB doesn’t provide that type of service. They don’t operate a service.
“If there is a provider out there interested in expanding their licence capacity or expanding to a nursery school system, then they are invited to think about that opportunity for themselves.
“It’s entirely up to the communities.”
But Reeve Carlson noted council was under the impression they were being asked to provide the space.
“And once it got up and running, they [DSSAB] would take care of funding it and basically everything,” he remarked. “If we weren’t going to be responsible for anything, we said, ‘Okay—go for it.’”
Still, he admitted it took several discussions before council was in agreement about a nursery school program in Emo.
“I think the biggest reason we were skeptical from the beginning is, like so many government programs, when the funding dries up, we’re left holding the bag,” Reeve Carlson said.
“And from a taxpayer’s point of view, we weren’t really wanting to get into a nursery school program—it’s a bit out of our element.”
But after a survey indicated nearly 12 families would be interested in the program, council decided to look into the proposal. Reeve Carlson noted, however, that Emo didn’t have the staff to provide the program.
“Basically we’d be trying to find a half-time person,” he said. “I don’t know how that would work out. We might have been able to do it, but then it would have had to fit in around the toy library [Ontario Early Years and Resource Centre], too.
“What we had talked about is they would operate it [the nursery school] on the days the toy library wasn’t open,” he added.
Cawston said since she received word of Emo council offering only the space for the program, they have approached some other nursery school programs in the district to ask if any of them would be interested in increasing their license capacity.
“So that’s where they are sitting right now,” she noted. “We’re waiting to hear on that.”
She added if Emo council decides years down the road that they would like a nursery school program, there is always the opportunity.
“Although, as a DSSAB, then we couldn’t guarantee any funding for that because under ‘Best Start,’ we did have a timeline that spaces would have to be licensed by Sept. 30,” Cawston stressed.
“But, of course, we’re always reassured that ‘Best Start’ is going to continue,” she added.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
