Knox City Council considers the future of its kindergarten services

Victoria’s Knox City Council has outlined plans to consult with its kindergarten staff on whether the Council will remain a standalone sessional kindergarten provider, or whether it will lease its buildings to other providers from January 2025.

 

Under the proposed changes, the Council would continue to run sessional kindergarten at the Knox Children and Family Centres in Bayswater and Wantirna, however the future of other services was a matter of “weighing up Council’s role in early childhood education and its duty to ratepayers,” said Mayor Marcia Timmer Leitch. 

 

“Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure all local families can access high-quality services in their local area, regardless of who is delivering them,” the Mayor said.

 

“Victorian Government reforms over the last 10 years have placed increasing pressure on kindergarten providers and it is no longer feasible for Council to run kindergartens at the scale we have done. We have also seen declining numbers in our services as more families choose other options, such as long day care settings which offer longer hours and greater flexibility.”

 

Undertaking a review of the Council’s involvement, the Mayor continued, is “the responsible thing to do”. 

 

“We want to support all local children to thrive, and Council is best placed to do this by supporting, planning and advocating for kindergarten in Knox – not through direct service delivery.”

 

Ms Timmer Leitch said the Council’s decision making has been informed by several years of service analysis and review, along with staff and community consultation, and the input of  a representative community panel which provided feedback on each option for the Council to consider.

 

“Knox is one of very few councils left in Melbourne that directly provides kindergarten on the scale that we do, so the ongoing changes to this sector affect us more than other councils,” she added.

 

Should the proposal go ahead, new providers would work with the Department of Education  to lease council buildings to continue offering a choice of high-quality kindergartens for local families.

 

The Australian Education Union has called on the Council to reconsider the proposal, with Australian Education Union Victorian Branch Vice President for Early Childhood Cara Nightingale telling local media the decision to lease council facilities to other providers “does not stack up”. 

 

Ms Nightingale expressed concern that the Council has reportedly issued redundancy estimates to staff, during what was indicated as a period of consultation, something she believes shows “a complete lack of respect” for staff and families.

 

“Kindergarten is an essential service, best provided by the people who know and understand their local community more than anyone else. There are more than 1,100 children in Knox who rely on their local government for high-quality, play-based early learning in the years before school,” she shared with the Ferntree Gully Star Mail. 

 

“Our service analysis has shown there are numerous kindergarten providers in our region and across Melbourne who have the ability to deliver high-quality services rivalling those the Council has offered in the past,” the Mayor said.

 

“We are committed to providing our buildings and spaces for new providers to offer local services for families.There will always be kindergarten in Knox and choices for local families to support their children’s growth, development and care.”

 

Staff consultation is currently underway. The Council will meet in August to review this feedback and make a final decision.

 

The Council’s position statement may be found here. Ms Nightingale’s comments, as quoted, may be accessed here.