Home »
Bravo and thank you to the staff of SD5
Letter to the Editor
It has been reported by Global News BC that child-care has been discontinued and is in disarray under the BCNDP. Credit needs to be given where credit is due.
Approximately three years ago, the BCNDP merged child-care into the Ministry of Education. At that time, they funded administrative positions across the province, in school districts, to allow them to set up child-care services within their schools.
As of today, our School District No. 5 (SD5), Southeast Kootenay, has implemented Before and After school child-care (and other programs) in every community between Cranbrook and the Alberta border. The staff of SD5 have worked incredibly hard to put this in place within a very short period of time.
They have followed the government mandate which is as follows:
The Ministry of Education’s 2025/26–2027/28 Service Plan includes a goal focused on child-care development across the province.
The objectives under this goal are:
• Objective 3.1: Families have access to affordable, licensed child-care options.
• Objective 3.2: Enhance provider capacity to offer high-quality, culturally safe child-care options.
• Objective 3.3: Build and enhance system capacity to support child-care as a core service families can rely on.
As set out in the Minister Mandate Letter (2025), districts are required to: Implement ChildCareBC to improve access to accessible, affordable child-care. Expand before- and after-school care programs across the province using cost-effective models for parents and the public that leverage existing school facilities and education workers.
I dislike incomplete and biased reporting that reflects the political leanings of the corporation that is misleading the public with this type of journalism. Bravo and thank you to the staff of School District No. 5 for their incredible work in this service to children and parents!
Wendy Turner,
Cranbrook
