Preschool treated like it ‘never existed’
A frustrated president of the board of directors for a licenced not-for-profit French Immersion preschool says bureaucratic red tape may cause the school to turn away students from its new location in September.
Last February, the Central Okanagan School District notified Le Petit Hibou French Immersion Preschool, which has been teaching children the basics of French for 15 years in its location adjacent to George Pringle Elementary School, that the school was going to be torn down to make way for a new high school.
The school district offered the preschool the same modular portable it had used at George Pringle at Glenrosa Elementary School, one of two French Immersion elementary schools on the Westside.
Because of the move, Kristy Lamont, president of the board of directors for Le Petit Hibou, said the preschool had to make a new licencing
application through the Interior Health Authority and began the process last March.
On July 12, Lamont said during an onsite inspection a licensing officer from Interior Health advised the preschool the module required a second toilet.
The short walk to the elementary school would not suffice.
Lamont noted just two years ago Le Petit Hibou Preschool Society was granted an increase in capacity from 16 to 20 students with just one toilet.
“Since our original licensing over 15 years ago, we are now faced with a mandate to have one washroom for every 10 children,” said Lamont. “We have been operating for 15 years with one washroom and now we need two washrooms for preschoolers, something not required for the students using this portable in June.”
The preschool offers six fully subsidized spaces; however, without a license, families cannot apply for subsidies, said Lamont.
“It seems irrational that because of a move in location, our organization has been treated as if we never existed before; with no option to be grandparented or qualify for an exemption, which has been available to others in the same circumstances,” she said.
Lamont noted there are currently 60 families ready to register at Le Petit Hibou. If the preschool is unable to open with the capacity it had when it closed in June, the school will have to turn away half of those families, some whom have been with the preschool for over five years.