Hi everyone, Frankston City Council has ‘public question time’ at the beginning of each of their meetings where members of the public can submit up to 3 questions each to the Council and get responses. The unfortunate part is that you don’t get the opportunity to respond to those questions at the meeting, but we feel it’s important to keep putting questions to the Council so they are reminded that we are still extremely concerned about the ballot system and we are not prepared to let the topic go. Since presenting to the council in the June meeting, we have submitted questions in the July and August meetings, details of the submitted questions and responses from Council are attached below. As you can see, the responses are quite misleading and insufficient, some quite clearly skate around the issue/s and don’t directly answer the questions. We were quite shocked at one response saying they’ve only received 9 complaints about the ballot system when we know over 711 people signed the petition and know how many people are currently complaining about it. It is SO IMPORTANT that the Council see what this system is doing to families, creating unnecessary stress and anxiety, not to mention affecting children’s social and emotional well-being. We will continue to submit questions at the future meetings and we strongly encourage any parents and members of the public who are passionate about changing the ballot system to submit questions of their own, attend the meeting (just the first 15-30 minutes usually covers it, then you can leave) and hear the responses Council provides. If no one attends, they will end up putting it down as minimal objection and will probably be reluctant to change anything. WE NEED YOUR HELP and can’t do this alone. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take a moment to submit some questions of your own, even if you can’t attend the meeting (can be done online or by fax/mail and must be done by 12 noon on the Friday before the meeting) as you can also request the responses to be emailed to you. The forms for Public Question Time can be found on the council website using the following link: frankston.vic.gov.au/Your_Council/Council_and_Committee_Meetings/Meetings We are also in the process of organising a further meeting with Councillors to discuss our concerns over the ballot system enrolment process and will keep you posted. Thank you for your continued support! QUESTION TIME 28 July 2014 (OM258) QUESTION 1: Has any consultation been undertaken since the meeting on 18 June 2014 and if so, what consultation is being done and who is being targeted, and if not, when is consultation planned to commence and who will be targeted? RESPONSE: Comments from Director Community Development Council has not commenced any further consultation since the June Council meeting. The review of the new Kindergarten Registration Process currently is being finalised and includes a thorough consultation process which will include surveying all families that have registered for 3 and 4 year old kindergarten for 2015. Surveys will also be distributed to all maternal and child health centres and kindergartens. Consultations will also be undertaken with kindergarten managers/committees of management, and other professionals working in the early childhood sector QUESTION 2: How many individual complaints have council received and how have council responded to individual complaints regarding the new Kindergarten Central Registration Procedure - specifically the Ballot System? RESPONSE: Comments from Director Community Development There have been nine individual emails/letters of concern and one letter from a concerned parents group. All letters/emails have been responded to with a written letter/email that explains the rationale behind the new process. QUESTION 3: Why did Frankston Council implement a totally random ballot system when the majority of other councils have considered community needs and have some form of preference system in place for kindergarten enrolments? RESPONSE: Comments from Director Community Development 96% of all eligible children who registered on time and who were residents or ratepayers of the municipality have received an offer of a place in their preferred kindergarten, which is a very pleasing result. There are still a number of vacancies across the municipality in all suburbs that the other 4% of on time registrations and all late registrations can be offered. QUESTION TIME 18 August 2014 (OM259) QUESTION 1: With reference to the 18 June 2014 ordinary meeting minutes where it’s stated under the general motion to review the new Kindergarten Registration Process including “a thorough public consultation and a survey of all families involved in the current process for 2015 offers and benchmarking with other Councils including an investigation of a sibling clause” – we ask what date is this consultation going to commence? RESPONSE: The Project Plan to review this year’s enrolment process is due to conclude (for those families who registered on time) in October. The project plan is currently being developed and will be finalised by the end of August 2014. This will include a framework for consultation and a communication plan. It is anticipated that the community will be notified of when the consultation will commence by 5 September 2014. QUESTION 2: Regarding the 67 Early Childhood Educator and Committee surveys that were returned from the initial consultation undertaken, as per Council’s response to Issue 1 on page 185 of the 18 June 2014 agenda – when will a summary of this information be made available? RESPONSE: The summary Kindergarten Educator and Committee Consultation Survey applied to both Frankston and Mornington Peninsula educators and Committees. As such it should be noted that the summary does not distinguish which comments relate to which municipality. A copy of the summary will be provided to Ms Forster. QUESTION 3: Do the council staff involved in the kindergarten registration process concede that the ballot system places unnecessary stress and anxiety on families going through the enrolment process? RESPONSE: Council officers believe the new Kindergarten Central Registration Procedure is a fair and equitable process which supports all eligible children to access a kindergarten program in Frankston City Council owned facilities. Unfortunately, Council does not have control over the number of places offered by an individual kindergarten committee and when demand exceeds supply there will always be some disappointment. This will be the situation regardless of the process. Disappointingly, some kindergarten committees felt unable to increase the number of places they offered this year. There are 15 children who did not receive a place at one of their preferred kindergartens for next year. Council officers acknowledge this may have caused anxiety and disappointment for those families, however they have been offered alternative choices within the municipality. Council continues to seek support of all kindergarten committees and managers to offer places consistent with their registered capacity and demand in their local community.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 12:59:42 +0000
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