More than half of Hamilton’s summer child-care centres to reopen this month

More than half of Hamilton's usual summer child-care centres are expected to reopen in the next 10 days, according to city staff.

Nearly all of Hamilton's 234 child-care centres were shuttered in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Education Minister Stephen Lecce gave Ontario child-care centres the green light to reopen as early as June 12, but only if they were abiding by strict guidelines, which include keeping attendance records and a 10-person cap on staff and children.

Brenda Bax, manager of early years operations, children services and neighbourhood development, said an additional 68 daycares are planning to reopen on July 6 and July 13, bringing the total to 90.

The goal is for every child-care centre in the city to be reopen by the fall," Bax said in an emailed statement.

According to Paul Johnson, director of the city's Emergency Operations Centre, typically there are about 130 centres open during the summer months.

We understand that this is a challenge for families but they were hopeful that child-care centres could get going very, very quickly," said Johnson during the city's June 26 COVID-19 response update.

But, the bottom line is that the public health guidelines around reopening child care and the provincial guidelines around reopening child care, they are very stringent," he said.

When asked by The Hamilton Spectator, Bax could not confirm the number of spaces that have come back online with the reopenings thus far.

Trends are showing that all centres are operating at approximately 50 per cent capacity due to the ministry limits of cohorts of 10," said Bax. We cannot provide specific numbers of spaces because child-care programs report that information to the city once they are open and operating."

To reopen, child-care centres across the city have had to recall and train their staff, assess their sites and change the flow" of their rooms. Toys such as blocks, teddy bears and dolls have been tucked away and desks have been measured and set apart.

They must also pass a public health inspection and submit an attestation and updated COVID-19 policies to the licensing and compliance team with the Ministry of Education.

There are lots of protocols in place to make sure we keep children and their families safe," said Johnson. We know the challenge of that."

As child-care centres begin to welcome back youngsters, Bax said operators are contacting families to confirm their interest in coming back, starting with those who had children enrolled at the time of the provincial order to close in March."

The city is pleased with the progress and continues working closely with the child-care community to ensure a safe reopening for all involved," she added.

Are you a parent in Hamilton that is trying to get your child back into daycare? We want to hear from you for a story in the Spectator. If you want to chat, please contact reporter Fallon Hewitt at fhewitt@torstar.ca.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com