A group of parents from the kindergarten, as well as others from the wider Katandra West community, want Greater Shepparton City Council to rethink the closure, which at this stage has been announced as a “suspension” of the kindergarten services for 2026.
Council community director Louise Mitchell said the suspension of services at the kindergarten for a year was “due to insufficient registrations of eligible children to attend the Katandra West service in 2026”.
“Very low registrations can affect the quality of the social, education and learning environment provided to the remaining children,” Ms Mitchell said.
She said that while workforce shortages were being felt nationally, including in Greater Shepparton, this was not the reason for the closure.
Parent Krista Whittingham, whose son went to the kindergarten this year and whose daughter was enrolled there for three-year-old kindergarten next year, said the suspension of the kindergarten was disappointing.
She said six children were enrolled at the kindergarten this year.
She already knows of seven children who were going to attend next year.
Despite council saying it would review its decision next year for 2027, Mrs Whittingham was concerned that once the town lost the service, it would be hard to regain.
“Being a country town, it (enrolment numbers) does go in waves,” she said.
“It’s important to support it at lower times, because in two years there could be 15 (children).
“It’s sad that they (council) don’t want to invest in communities.
“Our plea to council is there’s a value in keeping it open.”
Mrs Whittingham said the closest kindergarten would now be at Tallygaroopna, about 10 minutes away, but she said many families already travelled to get to Katandra West, so this would make travel times even longer.
She also said it would be difficult for families who had children at Katandra West School, which is next door, to then have to travel to another town to pick up a child.
Dana Cassidy is another parent who uses Katandra West Kindergarten.
One of her three daughters is at the kindergarten this year — and will start school next year — while another will start kindergarten next year.
For her, the hours at Tallygaroopna kinder do not suit, and it will mean that her child is now likely to go to a daycare kindergarten in Shepparton.
However, she is worried there is now a risk she won’t be able to get her in to any of the centres because the decision has been left so late.
It is not just the parents of children at the kindergarten who are concerned about its closure.
The School Council at Katandra West Primary School has also written to council asking for a community meeting about the closure of the kindergarten.
School Council member Tamara McLarty said the school was worried that if the kindergarten closed, it would also affect enrolment numbers at the school in the future.
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