(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Province-Wide

P.A. child care spaces unable to help families during one-day teacher strike

Jan 15, 2024 | 5:00 PM

It’s an answer parents and guardians are getting from child care spaces across the province: we can’t help you on Tuesday.

The reason they’re asking is because of the one-day strike involving teachers, the first of what could be a string of tactics used by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) during its contract negotiations with the provincial government.

The STF announced the work stoppage last week to allow families to plan for the day, but those with young children have struggled.

Tamica Georget, executive director of Humpty Dumpty Child Care Co-Op in Prince Albert, told paNOW they’ve had to turn many people away.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have room right now. We have full capacity so we can’t take any more kids,” she said.

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This hasn’t been the case for Children’s Choice Child Development Co-operative, which has multiple locations in P.A. Co-executive director Danielle Werchuk said they knew right away they wouldn’t be able to help.

“We did put out a letter that we could not accommodate them for the day,” she explained.

They couldn’t help because they already have full-time kids they’re scheduled to look after. Werchuk added they typically help parents on PD days and holidays but that’s because they have ample amount of time to prepare.

Meanwhile, there have been talks within the Children’s Choice Child Development Co-operative to increase their capacity if the STF decides to hold additional strike notices.

“At our Dunn Drive location, we have a hall next door that we’re looking at to see if it can be somewhere we can host the extra children,” Werchuk said.

If this does happen, they would also need to up their staff numbers as there is a limit on how many kids an employee can oversee.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow