A preschool that has operated out of Baker Drive elementary school in Coquitlam for more than 40 years will be shutting its doors for good.
School District 43 said it will need the extra classroom currently used by the daycare as it adds classes and hires teachers to comply with last year's Supreme Court of Canada decision to reinstate class-size and composition to pre-2002 levels.
For Rob McTavish, the vice-president of the not-for-profit operating Baker's Corner Preschool, the news is disappointing, as it is for parents and residents in the community.
"It is really said," McTavish said. "We will have to tell 25 families that their 29 kids will no longer have a preschool in September."
Discussions had been ongoing between the preschool and the district since the beginning of the year but SD43 will not commit to offering a classroom until it sees how many students arrive in September, McTavish said.
And because of the upheaval, the preschool, which follows a parent-involved model, has been unable to sign a contract with the two teachers who would lead the class for the upcoming year.
"It is frustrating," McTavish said. "[The district] won't do anything about looking at extra space until September. That puts us out of business."
Last November, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling reinstated contract clauses removed by the Gordon Campbell's BC Liberal government in 2002 dealing with class size and composition.
Earlier this year, the union and the provincial government struck a deal that will see the hiring of 1,000 new teachers province-wide as part of a $50-million interim agreement.
In SD43, 95 new teaching jobs have been created, plus 24 educational assistants.
The district has been scrambling to find new space for the teachers and in a letter to Baker's Corner Preschool parents, it said.
"On behalf of the district, thank you for your understanding of our requirement to comply with the Supreme Court of Canada's decision, which restored language in the teacher's collective agreement," stated a letter to parents from acting secretary-treasurer Chris Nicolls. "Your attention to this matter is appreciated."
