A group wanting to start a daycare within the empty parts of Gronlid Central School is reeling after the North East School Division told them they wouldnāt lease the building ā seven months after supporting the concept.
The divisionās board decided to not give a lease to the Gronlid Little Giggles Daycare Inc. because they didnāt have a permanent source of funding.
Amy Hedin, Little Gigglesā treasurer, said the decision to not lease is disheartening ā and confusing.
āWeāre upset. This was heartbreaking, actually. It was kind of a light for the school after the grade discontinuance [of Grades 9 to 12] because that high school wing is empty and thatās where we were going to be leasing space.ā
In a letter dated Feb. 28, the school division said they would be supportive of a daycare centre within the school as long as the school served Grade K to 8 students and any renovations and operating costs were paid by the daycare. Don Rempel, the divisionās director of education, said that was to support the daycare board in applying for permanent funding from the education ministryās Early Learning and Child Care branch.
After getting that support, Little Giggles applied for that funding. Because they were concerned that the funding would be allocated to larger centres, the daycare board held fundraisers, secured grants and even took a small business loan for any of the renovations.
The goal was to start renovations for a 20-space daycare in November and open in the New Year.
The daycare didnāt get the funding from the Early Learning and Child Care branch.
On Oct. 11, Little Giggles and representatives from the school divisionās staff had discussions on what a lease agreement could look like. The division wanted an one-year agreement, while the daycare board wanted a three-year agreement so it could meet its financial obligations.
At a Committee of the Whole meeting Oct. 24, the board decided to not go ahead with any lease agreement.
āWe talked to the group a little while about what an agreement would look like, but we decided in the end not to have a lease agreement,ā Rempel said.
It let the daycare know in a letter dated Oct. 25 that it wasnāt going to do that for āvarious reasons.ā The letter did not elaborate.
Besides the lack of permanent funding, the school board had another reason to not support a lease.
āSchool viability is another reason,ā Rempel said. āWe had the discussion talking about what would happen if the school closed in the future.ā
The director of education said at this point, thereās not much that would change the school boardās mind.
āThe best-case scenario would be that thereās another facility available for the daycare group to pursue, another option for them,ā he said.
Hedin said thatās not really an option.
āThat was financially our only option, was to be in the school. Gronlid doesnāt really have a whole lot else for rental and unfortunately because we started the process, weāve done multiple fundraisers, weāve gotten the grants from credit unions,ā she said. āRespectfully, we have to regroup and have to reassess what we are going to have to do now.ā