Well, our fabulous childcare plan is unraveling at the seams. Kari is still very willing to take Maddie in the afternoons, but the plan hinged on getting her into the preschool program that Kari's daughter is going to in the mornings. Turns out this preschool program, which is offered by the local school division free of charge to people like Kari who live in the neighbourhood, will cost us $4000. Yes, FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! That's $20/day for a half day program. That's almost as much as Marcel's university tuition! And this is the public school system, not a posh private school.
What doesn't make sense is that in our school division, there is no free preschool program offered, as far as I know. The only option we have is the preschool program through the local community centres. And you have to pay for that. So here we are, living in the same city, with the same provincial education system, and she gets a free program in her neighbourhood, and we get nothing. Zippo. Nada.
For that kind of money, we might as well rent a cheap apartment in the school's neighbourhood, use that as our address, and give the space away to a homeless person. At least we'd be doing a good deed in the process!
The kicker is that there are spaces available in the preschool program. Spaces that probably won't be filled. But rather than let our kid in for free like the other kids in the neighbourhood, they'll leave the spaces open. Sheesh.
Anyone have any ideas how to challenge the system?
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7 comments:
is it french? you could make it a human rights issue.
Ok, I have a question. Does her neighborhood pay a special tax or fee to support the school? If not, I can't see how they can charge you and not them.
On a totally different note, you can do what lots of people do here and use someone else's address when signing her up. Semi-unethical? Yes.
I don't know if the neighborhood is so small that they would either find out or someone would rat you out, though. Over here, almost everyone gets away with it and schools have to hire detectives to find these things out.
You might try contacting your MPP, Heather, although it may be futile during the summer months. The stupidity of leaving spaces unfilled rather than changing or "bending" the rules to accommodate someone in need .. Grrrr!! It's infuriating, isn't it?
Well, that's a bummer! It doesn't seem fair to me that there wouldn't be the same sort of program in your district. Good luck talking with someone who will let you know what you can do!
$4,000?
WHAT could possibly cost four thousand dollars?
Do you know how happy I could keep a preschool child on $4,ooo?
Makes me think of those ads where you can support a child for $30.00 a month.
One day I told my three I was packing them off to a third world country where they could receive clean clothes, healthy food and a Christian education for what a lunch at McDonald's was costing us.
These things should not be!
Arghhhhh.
I think around here, if I child is receiving child care in a different school district, they are allowed to go to school in the district the child care giver lives in. Worth a try anyway.
That is just WHACKY!
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