A local childcare provider is under fire for yet another fee increase after only being open for just over a year.
A group of around 40 local parents and clients of ProducKIDvity Childcare Academy sent an open letter to the centers owners and local media outlets, outlining the never-ending changes to their fee structure and offerings. This comes after ProducKIDvity issued a news release criticizing the provincial governments CCFRI not outlining their own total costs with the all-inclusive package, which has been made almost mandatory for their families. Families have been warned that if they do not opt into the all-inclusive package, their spot could be given to a new student who would.
The open letter states: "Over the last several months, we have experienced a decline in accuracy and transparency of communication. In addition to mistakes being made and poor communication, the ever-diminishing notice period for changes and fee increases makes it impossible for families to budget. There have been many commitments from you and your staff that there would not be any further changes or fee increases, and since those commitments, there have been multiple poorly communicated changes adding hundreds of dollars per month in costs to families."
The families go on to point out that they are not investors and should not cover the costs of the daycare's expansion. This comes after the announcement that ProducKIDvity has obtained space in a brand new building on Bernard.
"We are parents who are paying for daycare and co-working spaces, and while we support your desire to stay in business and eventually scale your model, we are not investors looking to subsidize the cost of your expansion plans. We know the current economic climate and the imperfect government funding structure pose challenges to your business. However, financing or backstopping cash flow for the expansion of the Bernard Block Campus or any other future locations should not fall on the shoulders of current Leon or Sutherland families. The owner/investor group should be responsible for sourcing funds for expansion without raising rates for the current programs at existing campuses."
The daycare operators claimed that without changing their fees, they "won’t be able to keep running after December 2023." Largely blaming the government and its CCFRI funding for the price increases.
In the letter, the parents are pleading for a call for action from owners to "undertake a thorough review of expenditures with the aim of eliminating unnecessary costs to bring the daycare's finances in alignment with its core mission and values (which also need to be re-evaluated after receiving market feedback)."