Battle shapes up for third kindy

A battle has broken out over who will provide Papamoa with a third kindergarten with the private and public sector going head to head.
After reading a Bay of Plenty Times article revealing that a proposed public kindergarten for Papamoa had been scrapped because of a lack of finances, the owner of the largest private provider of pre-school childcare in New Zealand has stepped forward and offered to build a new facility.
Kidicorp owner Wayne Wright, from Tauranga, said after reading Saturday's story, he decided his company would be "happy to build one and provide the service Papamoa needs".
Mr Wright said as a private enterprise he had the funds and vowed to match Tauranga Region Kindergartens in whatever they planned to offer.
Tauranga Region Kindergartens had planned to lease land on Golden Sands Drive to build a new kindergarten but after the Budget was announced last month, found their finances would not allow it.
 Principal Peter Monteith said they weren't giving up and plans for its 20th kindergarten had simply been "deferred".
Market research showed there were 50 families prepared to enrol children in a kindergarten in the Papamoa East community.
 Tauranga Region Kindergartens stands to lose more than $850,000 in annual funding as a result of the cuts to the 100 per cent funding rate of early childhood teachers in this year's Budget.
 Two of the highest bands of subsidy for childcare centres have been axed, effectively cutting funds to centres with more than 80 per cent trained staff. That's all kindergartens.
Kidicorp however, has no centres with 100 per cent trained registered teachers, as Mr Wright doesn't believe it necessary.
He currently has 70 per cent of his centres with 80 per cent registered staff.
Mr Monteith said he saw Kidicorp as offering different services to public kindergarten.
"We're a not for profit organisation ... focused on education, and have 100 per cent trained and registered teachers.
"Currently there are no fees or donations for those families who make use of the 20 free hour scheme."
Mr Wright hit back and said private enterprises had a higher teacher to child ratio and were funded differently from the public sector.
 He said that the ideal site for the kindergarten would be on the Golden Sands School site on Golden Sands Drive, but that would need to be negotiated.