Tussle over tots in Dorval

"(The school board) should look at the socio-economical impact," warned Izold Guihur, chairperson of the Dorval Co-Op Preschool, a non-profit pre-school that runs its classes out of Sarto Desnoyers community centre.

Between that preschool and another, Dorval Elementary Schools' pre-kindergarten, Guihur said there are about 30 students enrolled in four-year-old programs. She fears a third pre-k program is simply not sustainable in the market.

"We chose Dorval because it is directly between Lachine and Pointe Claire," countered Pearson chairman Marcus Tabachnick, adding he did not expect to draw children living only in Dorval, but from surrounding West Island communities as well. "We're looking for a group of 12 to 15 kids to make a class," he added.

However, Guihur said the board had tried to open a pre-k program in Dorval last year at Bishop Whelan Elementary, and had to cancel when there was a lack of interest.

Dorval Elementary Pre-Kindergarten's co-ordinator, Antonella Baratta, was concerned as well. "We've been attracting families from all over the West Island as well," she said in response to Tabachnick's claims the school board program would not just be targeting Dorval.

According to Guihur and Baratta, the two pre-Ks together attracted about 30 four-year-olds this year, a lower number than in years past.

Statistics Canada figures from 2006 suggest Lachine, Pointe Claire and Dorval all have ageing populations, with each having over 80 per cent of its population as older than 15. The youngest median age for all three is held by Lachine with its 41.2.

With both existing pre-Ks running as non-profit organizations, they rely on support from volunteers, such as Baratta and Guihur, to keep functioning. The only paid staff members at each pre-k are teachers, they said.

"Some (volunteer) moms and dads were alumni from here," Guihur said last Thursday as one of the morning classes at the co-op came to an end, surrounded by children in their coats as they waited for their parents.

Tabachnick said the school board has offered to co-operate with the existing pre-Ks, but was not met with a positive response. "They refused," he said. Since the programs last half a day, he told The Chronicle it would have been possible to have the pre-Ks run their programs in the afternoon and Pearson run its own in the morning, or vice-versa.

However, the two pre-ks are already careful not to step on each others' toes as it is, according to Guihur. Her own program for four-year-olds runs in the afternoon, after morning sessions with three-year-olds are done. Meanwhile, over at Dorval Elementary's pre-k program, four-year-olds show up in the morning.

Guihur also questioned the use of public funds to open up the new pre-school, pointing out the province does not currently provide Pearson with a budget for pre-Ks.

"We will be in talks to the Quebec Ministry of Education," Tabachnick said, admitting that, for now, Lester is funding the project on its own. "It's at no extra cost," he insisted.

With strong existing ties between the two pre-Ks and the school board, it will be difficult to gauge exactly what effect a new program may have.

"Most of our children end up going to Dorval Elementary School," said Baratta. Though the pre-K program she co-ordinates is run independently of Dorval Elementary by its Home and School Association, that school itself is a part of the Pearson network, and the pre-k used to be run out of the school building itself before 2006, when the merger of two different schools forced it to the basement of Dorval's Strathmore United Church.

Meanwhile, many graduates of the co-op pre-K program, which is supported by the city of Dorval through free accommodation at Sarto Desnoyers, also move on to Dorval Elementary, said Guihur. She added that she would like to maintain ties with the school board.

Paula Chiarella, the city of Dorval's liaison to the co-op, said the municipality could publicly state its support for the co-op if it was officially asked to, but has no control over the school board's actions.