Altona West Kindergarten will close five days before Christmas, with two more Altona kindergartens earmarked for closure when a $6.9 million early-years hub is built.
Altona Kindergarten and Somers Parade Kindergarten have also been slated for closure, a move that parents are fighting.
Altona West committee of management secretary Amanda Ryan said children at her kindergarten would either go to other kindergartens in the area or start school next year.
“We’re the smallest, so in terms of being viable it was hardest,” she said.
“We can’t physically keep enough students in here to make it viable to cover our costs.
“We fought really hard to stay open until the hub came, but it just came down to the business side of it. … at the moment Altona and Somers Parade [kindergartens] are earmarked to close, to go to the hub.”
The hub will be built next to Altona P-9 College in Grieve Parade.
Early Childhood Management Services (ECMS), the cluster manager responsible for staffing at Altona West, Altona and Somers Parade kindergartens, said only Seaholme Kindergarten was likely to remain open.
ECMS area manager Patty McLean said it was devastating the kindergarten was closing.
“It’s so sad to lose a valuable community service like this.
“We’re all devastated that this has happened, but we just can’t sustain the doors open until the hub comes along,” she said.
Hobsons Bay council director Peter Hunt said any decision on the viability of the Somers Parade and Altona kindergartens would “depend on enrolment numbers and the level of support from the committee of management”.
Altona West Kindergarten, which opened in 1970, will host a fun day for current and past families on December 9 from 2-7pm.
For details visit the Altona West Kindergarten Facebook page.
