EXCERPTS:
Five months after councillors voted against shutting down the city-run daycare, the suggestion will be back on the table Monday.
Included in a report to be presented to the community services committee meeting is a proposal to grandparent kids and families out of the daycare over the next 2 1/2 years.
To protest the recommendation, CUPE 4705 plans to rally outside Tom Davies Square before the meeting.
There are a number of other ideas in the report to cut costs and increase revenue to the Junior Citizens Daycare Centre after the provincial government changed how it funds child care centres. That meant a close to $1.1 million shortfall for this year alone.
The government did give the city $6.7 million transition funding, but that won't last forever. And over the next few years, the funding change could end up costing Sudbury $4.6 million.
One suggestion is to cut subsidies for 10-to 12-year-olds in the program, of which there were 126 last month. This would save an estimated $200,000.
Staff are also recommending changes to the job search policy, reducing the time parents can look for a job and not lose their spot in the daycare from three months to one, "which is consistent with the post-secondary job search policy."
The committee should also agree to lower the minimum monthly contribution cap for parents from $35 to $10, the report says. At the moment, the city can cover the cost for parents if it's less than $35. This suggestion means parents will pay as soon as they cross the $10 threshold.
Reducing the number of absent days allowed from 45 to 36 each year before clients pay the full cost of said absences and changing the self-employment start-up allowance (pro-v iding full-time child care while parents get businesses off the ground) from applying for two years to one are other ideas.
In all, the four suggestions combined would save approximately $40,000.
The 40-year-old Junior Citizens Daycare Centre, located in the Centre for Life building on Brady Street, costs taxpayers $129,000 a year to run and serves 120 families.
According to CUPE, the closure means 21 people would lose their jobs.
-reprinted from the Sudbury Star