Ten childcare centres are “doomed” if Auckland Council decides to strip funding.
Its one of the suggested options to try to plug a budget hole for the next financial year.
The city was facing a $295 million “budget hole”, according to Mayor Wayne Brown, who has proposed selling the council’s share of Auckland International Airport to avoid having to hike rates more than 13 per cent.
Brown said council staff have advised discontinuing funding for Kauri Kids centres across the city would save $1m a year.
He said the decision should not rest with the governing body and that local boards should consult with communities on whether early childhood education should continue being provided by council.
The Early Childhood Council said removing council funding from the centres would likely mean they would have to close.
Early childhood is a great profession according to Evolve Education Group which has more than 100 centres around New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Chief executive Simon Laube said low-cost or free early learning was needed in communities but without council support they would struggle to cover costs such as rent.
“It gives you a huge advantage not to have the rents and interest rate repayments that other owners have - and even they can’t make it work - so models like Kauri Kids with those shorter hours and the low fees for parents, they’re doomed.”
Laube said 346 families send their children to Kauri Kids centres and it would be sad if they closed.
“It is a bit of a dim prospect to go from having a great network of centres to closing them entirely.”
He said many early childhood operators were struggling with increased costs, including for extended pay parity which Kauri Kids had opted in for.
“The figures that we’ve run show that centres like Kauri Kids would not be economically viable based on the government revenue they get because of the small model and the experience level of the staff, they’re simply not being funding for it by the government.”
Kauri Kids centres were in council-owned property, and did not have the pressure of paying rent, he said.
“Providers like Kauri Kids benefit from the council owning the property, avoiding costly interest repayments and high rents. If Auckland Council can’t make extended pay parity work, how is your average small private owner or community group supposed to?”
If the option was included in the budget it would be discussed at the full council meeting on Thursday.
