‘We don’t have the answers’
Pre-primary program could cost Baddeck volunteer board of directors $60,000
When Baddeck Nursery School board of directors heard a provincial pre-primary program was starting September at Baddeck Academy where their preschool is located, they were disappointed.
The board, made up of volunteers, knew it meant closing their not-for-profit centre, which has been in operation for 45 years.
Without preschoolers there aren’t enough three-year-olds to fill the program. And because they are located in a school, they can’t meet provincial regulations to add infant spots. What the board didn’t realize was that a “forgivable loan” they received from Housing Nova Scotia in 2013, when licensed child care providers were overseen by the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services, wouldn’t be forgiven in this situation.
“In no way are we trying to make the provincial pre-primary program look bad,” said Holly MacInnis, president of the board. “It is an amazing opportunity for our children.”
“Having to lose the program and then to have to potentially pay $60,000 to do that, it’s just so emotional,” added Tammy MacSween, treasurer of the board.
The loan was for renovations to their classroom in Baddeck Academy, which is leased through the Cape BretonVictoria Regional Centre for Education (CBVRCE), to make it more preschool/ toddler appropriate.
Terms dictate the loan depreciates each year the centre stays in business, so the board of directors extended its lease until 2023 to fulfill loan requirements.
With $60,000 remaining on
the loan, a lease they are bound to and the realization they can’t feasibly operate their child-care model in the same location as a pre-primary program, is causing a lot of stress.
“The emotional part of losing something that’s been a big part of the community for so long plus the financial pressure and the constant questions from the community and the added time it’s put on the volunteer board of directors, it’s been pretty demanding and disappointing,” said MacInnis, a married mother of three.
The board would like the CBVRCE take over their space and loan, as per the terms of condition of their loan agreement which states if the business is sold or taken over the loan can be transferred to them. Or they would like the loan pardoned by Housing Nova Scotia and give up their lease.
MacSween and MacInnis said the CBVRCE programming department told them it is against their bylaws to assume another
business’s loan.
The board members said CBVRCE has suggested Baddeck Nursery School change its model to an afterschool program, continue leasing the space from them and use this to work off the loan.
Another suggestion they gave was to get another group to take over Baddeck Nursery School and the the debt, something the board doesn’t feel comfortable with because they don’t know if an afterschool program will work.
“CBVRCE really wants to put the pre-primary in our classroom, it’s just the loan and the lease are really tying things up. We thought we would get some support from them,” MacInnis said.
“It was hard for the board to come to that decision … to say pre-primary can go into the nursery school classroom and we will go our merry ways.
“But then we didn’t really get the response from the board we
were hoping for … in regard to support.”
In an email statement from the CBVRCE, spokesperson Michelle MacLeod said they are “working with Nursery School to find a solution.
“If there is an opportunity for us to assist with that, we are happy to support that work in any way we can,” she said.
However, MacInnis said the board asked the CBVRCE to write a letter on their behalf to Housing Nova Scotia in support of the loan pardoning — which it hasn’t been done — making the board think they aren’t willing to help them solve the situation.
Krista Higdon, spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, said they are “committed to finding a viable solution to benefit all parties involved.
“Our first priority has been to support the Baddeck Nursery School to explore options that will remain viable … albeit in
a different child-care capacity, and to meet the terms and conditions of their loan agreement with Housing Nova Scotia, she said via email.
“If other options, once explored and analyzed, do not prove feasible, the Department is committed to working with Nursery School, the CBVRCE, as well as other government colleagues at Housing Nova Scotia, toward a resolution.”
A resolution is what the board is hoping for. MacInnis and MacSween admit dealing with the situation has become overwhelming.
“We essentially have the whole community asking, “What’s happening with Nursery School now?” And we don’t have the answers,” said MacSween.
“We would like the Department of Community Services to forgive the loan, or the CBVRCE to take on the loan, and we will gladly give over the classroom.”