The Municipality of Jasper has given the go ahead for a second year of the Meeting of the Waters early childhood education centre.

Created in September 2005 as a pilot project integrating nursery school and daycare services, Meeting of the Waters has been a resounding success, Kathleen Waxer told council last Tuesday (August 1).

Waxer, the director of community and family services, presented a DVD outlining the challenges and achievements of the centre’s first year at the meeting. 

The services had been integrated in an effort to cut down on overlapping services while bringing the children of Jasper together for high quality education. While Meeting of the Waters largely achieved these aims, there were some growing pains as part of the process, including difficulties incorporating children as young as three years old into programs with older students, and a diminished offering of second-language programming.

In requesting a second year for the project, Waxer told council that steps were being taken to address these concerns.

“We’ll be dividing the programs between three-year-olds and older kids,” she said. “We will be introducing French in both rooms, but there will be no room dedicated to second language.”

Waxer reported that about 54 children were enrolled in the centre last year, with a total cost to the municipality (including facility costs) of about $ 227,000.

“That’s well worth it,” Councillor Andy Walker commented.

Councillors all spoke in support of the combined centre, but Mayor Richard Ireland suggested that the financial burden of early childhood education should be more evenly distributed between various levels of government.

“Shouldn’t the province and GYRD have something to do with it?” he asked Waxer.

“In my opinion it absolutely should be a larger government responsibility,” she replied. “I don’t believe it is entirely a municipal responsibility.”

It was suggested that the GYRD might be able to provide support for the French language element of the Meeting of the Waters program, given that Jasper Elementary School has been eager to see pre-school aged children provided with some exposure to a second language.

Funding could also be provided by the local business community, something that Waxer said she was committed to focusing on in the months ahead. One local business did make a substantial donation during the first year of the integrated centre.

Approval for a second year of the project was supported unanimously, but next summer council will have a more significant decision to make — whether or not to make the combined centre permanent. For now, Waxer doesn’t feel like she can make any recommendations on a long-term arrangement.

“There are so many changes happening in early childhood education, I don’t feel comfortable making permanent recommendations,” she said.

Looking ahead, Councillor Mike Day told his colleagues that he doubted there would be another group in the community willing to organize and support a nursery school if the municipality decided to discontinue the combined services.

“I think volunteer burnout played a role in this integration,” he said. “It was just taking too much time and effort. Parents were motivated to integrate and that’s one reason it has worked.”