Kinder options considered
The centre, which currently employs two staff and has 32 children, is “just sitting tight”.
Teacher Cathi Orr said parents were concerned and feeling unsettled but highlighted the outcome was not yet final.
“I guess they are questioning what will happen in the future,” said Ms Orr. “Will the kinder still be open? And, unfortunately, we don’t have the answers at the moment.”
It follows Cardinia Shire standing by its Early Years Management (EYM) expression of interest process and decision to appoint new service providers at last Monday’s council meeting.
Garfield-based Kinders Together, which has managed Longwarry Preschool since 2006, was not reappointed by Cardinia Shire to manage any of its 19 council-owned facilities.
This decision has left Longwarry as Kinders Together’s only centre. EYM providers are required to have a minimum of three kindergartens under their care.
Ms Orr said its parents committee would make decisions regarding the centre’s future, if required, and would consider staff jobs.
The preschool employs two staff but the jobs of other “additional helpers” are also uncertain.
“We’re just in limbo, we have no idea,” said Ms Orr. “But our council (Baw Baw) is giving us a choice and listening to the community.”
Ms Orr said Kinders Together would manage the centre until the end of the year.
She added the preschool has 32 children enrolled in its four-year-old program, “but we’re growing”. There is no three-year-old program running in 2017. However, a program did run in 2016.
Baw Baw Shire is working closely with the preschool and community to dientify the best management model. Most kindergartens in Baw Baw are currently managed by YMCA.
A community meeting in Pakenham recently attracted about 350 people who moved a motion asking Cardinia Shire Council to overturn its decision to appoint three new EYM providers.
Parent and Andrew Community Kindergarten president Sharyn Ling, who spoke at the meeting, said parents had no choice or voice in the process.
“We’re the ones using the service, we should be the ones to identify any gaps that are not being filled,” she said.
However, despite the motion and after facing 35 questions in community question time, councillors instead moved a motion asking its chief executive officer to re-negotiate the award of EYM from three service providers to two.
The motion also asked the the ceo to negotiate job security as a priority and that council undertake an annual survey of kinder families and educators.