Knox City Council will consult its kindergarten staff on whether Council will remain a standalone sessional kindergarten provider or lease its buildings to other providers from January 2025. Under the proposed changes, Council would continue to run sessional kindergarten at the Knox Children and Family Centres in Bayswater and Wantirna.
Mayor, Cr Marcia-Timmers Leitch said the difficult decision was made weighing up Council's role in early childhood education and its duty to ratepayers.
"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," she 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.
"Reviewing our services is the responsible thing to do when there are such significant impacts for council, our services and our community.
"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."
The decision was informed by several years of service analysis and review, staff and community consultation as well as the input of a representative community panel which provided feedback on each option for 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," said Cr Timmers-Leitch.
"There are many services we provide on behalf of state and federal governments where funding has not kept up with the cost of providing services over time, and that is a risk that Council has to consider very carefully."
Unlike many of its local government counterparts, Knox Council has directly operated up to 30 kindergarten services, until recent years when demand has dropped. By comparison, in the eastern region of Melbourne, the next largest Council service provider runs only three kindergartens.
Working with the Department of Education, who have primary responsibility for kindergarten, new providers would be identified to lease council buildings to continue offering a choice of high-quality kindergartens for local families.
"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 Council has offered in the past," said Cr Timmers-Leitch.
"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 and Council will meet in August to review this feedback and make a final decision.
