By ANEEKA SIMONIS
PARENTS are grappling with the idea of removing their children from local schools and moving from the shire after it was recently announced a number of after school care programs are being axed.
Bunyip Primary School parent Helen Pinkster has been hit hard by the news which leaves her with two options – cut down her hours at work or leave the shire altogether.
“We won’t be able to manage financially if (my husband and I) cut down our hours. I may be able to leave early to pick my kids up in the short term, but not in the long term. And it’s unreasonable to expect any employer to allow that,” she said.
She believes the decision to end the council-run Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) program will send her and her family packing back to Endeavour Hills where there are more available care services.
“We moved to Bunyip six years ago. We wouldn’t have moved if there were no facilities … we were expecting this would improve over time considered the town is growing.”
OSHC program, which currently operate at seven primary schools across the shire in Bunyip, Kooweerup, Beaconsfield, Pakenham and Officer, will cease at the end of term two in late June.
The decision was made by council after an internal review found they were “no longer best placed” to provide care services to the schools.
Cardinia Shire Council CEO Garry McQuillan said the review found that the fees paid by families using the council program were at the higher end of the price range and that schools and care providers are better equipped to provide a more tailored service at a lower cost.
“The reality is, the OSHC landscape has changed significantly in recent years – there are many national, regional and local organisations that can fulfil the requirements of schools with a number of them already operating successfully at other schools in Cardinia Shire,” he said.
“We looked at a number of options to vary our program, but there is acceptance that the time is now right to transition this program back to the schools. Ultimately, it is the schools’ responsibility and they are in a much better position to decide what solution is right for them.”
Despite this, some schools including Bunyip Primary School, have decided they will not provide alternative care arrangements – leaving some parents in the lurch.
“Unfortunately, Bunyip Primary School does not have enough permanent students to be able to provide an OSHC service that would cover the costs of its provision,” Bunyip Primary School’s acting principal Dale Hendrick wrote in the school newsletter.
Fellow parent Bec Francis, who is very pleased with the standard of education and care provided by the school, admitted the loss of on-site after hours care will be “really disruptive” for her Prep-aged son.
“I don’t know what I will do. I just started him there and he’s just settled in and now I need to find an alternative. It’s very concerning,” she said.
Both mothers said they tried to get their children into the town’s day care centre, but they are operating at full capacity.
“It’s been full as long as we have known. I am certainly going to put his name on a waiting list though,” Ms Francis said.
Mr McQuillan said OSHC programs are not a core responsibility for councils and Cardinia Shire was one of few which offered the service.
