Ferntree Gully three-year-old kinder Alice Johnson Pre-School may shut
The future of a number of Knox community kindergartens is bleak, with many facing closure unless their enrolments pick up before Christmas.
Outer East
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The future of Knox community kindergartens is bleak, with many facing closure unless enrolments pick up before Christmas.
Alice Johnson Pre-School three-year-old program in Ferntree Gully has been running for 53 years but the committee is anxious declining numbers of children enrolled for 2019 will see the program shut down.
The 50-year-old, three-year-old kinder committee president Renee Rogers said the program needed 18 enrolments for 2019 for the year to be feasible and only 10 children had been registered.
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Earlier this year Knox Leader reported Templeton Orchards three-year-old preschool closed due to declined enrolments and lack of money.
Sadly N.G Haynes Rostered Activity Group, running three-year-old kinder for about 20 years, won’t be opening again next year.
The group’s enrolment officer Jacqui Waddell said with a lack of enrolments and how tough it was to get funding, it was not feasible to keep the program open and pay the wages and bills.
But Alice Johnson’s Ms Rogers said preschools across Knox were feeling the heat.
She said three-year-old kinders did not receive State Government money to keep afloat and many parents were opting for childcare instead.
“I’ve spoken to other committees in Knox and there are a number who are struggling to get enrolments,” Ms Rogers said.
“The financial situation is based on enrolments.”
She said three-year-old kinder was a good way for children to start learning independently and make friends during a short session.
“It’s a community staple. Everyone knows the teachers,” she said.
“All the families get to know each other. We’re a community gathering point, especially for those coming with their first child, looking for others in the same situation.”
Knox Mayor Jake Keogh said the council supported a number of three-year-old programs with purpose built spaces for children and families. He said programs that run in council buildings were exempt from paying a licence fee and benefited from the being able to collaborate with other programs also run from the space.
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