Now that boards across the province know which schools will offer full-day kindergarten this fall, some are figuring out how to handle a surge in demand for the program that could save working parents thousands a year in daycare costs for their four- and five-year-olds.
An official in Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office said after yesterday’s announcement, which named the almost-600 schools in the first phase, that individual boards must decide what to do if demand exceeds spots. Kindergarten registration revs up this month and next, and lotteries might be an answer.
“We can’t afford to fund all of this instantly,” McGuinty said at an elementary school in Chatham. “We’d ask those parents to be patient.”
In York Region, only families living in-district will be eligible for the full-day program at 25 schools, said spokesperson Ross Virgo.
At the Durham District School Board, in the rare case a school can’t accommodate local children, the board will work with the ministry to solve the problem, said superintendent Lisa Millar.
Karen Grose, a system superintendent with the Toronto Escort Agency District School Board, said lotteries are possible but “the first challenge is to measure the demand for the program.”
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