Parents demand answers after SD43 decision shuts down long-running childcare program at Hampton Park Elementary

Parents at Hampton Park Elementary School say they have been left scrambling for answers after the Coquitlam School District declined to renew the licence for a long-running childcare provider.

The decision will shut down Hampton Park Montessori, which has operated at the school for more than two decades, according to Leila Celani, the company’s director.

“The district is implying that staff and children are transferable objects,” Celani said. “They assumed that all the families are going to be OK with this, that they were just going to change the person who’s sitting at the desk and change the people who are caring for your children.”

More than 300 people have now signed a petition, started by Celani, calling on the district to pause the decision and explain why Hampton Park Montessori will no longer be allowed to operate its before and after-school childcare program on site.

The program currently serves more than 50 children, leasing classroom space at the Coquitlam school, and has operated there since 2001.

The petitions state that Hampton Park Montessori has been given three inconsistent explanations for non-renewal to the operator, educators and parents.

When Celani was informed their licence would not be renewed on Nov. 12, 2025, the official letter stated the decision was made following a number of concerns over the past two years, but does not go into detail.

But Celani said no concerns were ever brought to her, the school district has refused to elaborate, and Fraser Health has confirmed it has no complaints regarding operations, health or safety.

“They have not, despite repeated inquiries about what those concerns were, provided any other details about that,” she said.

Parents say they were informed late last year that the school district would not renew the program’s licence to occupy classroom space at the school, and that another childcare provider had been selected through a request-for-proposals process.

But families say the district has provided little rationale for the change, and the decision has created uncertainty and raised significant concern about process, transparency, fairness, and governance, the petitions states.

Celani said the decision came as a shock to staff and families, especially after the program recently expanded to meet growing demand for childcare.

In September 2025, she started a petition to expand the available classroom space for her company after discovering an “unprecedented” number of kids would be needing childcare after school in the next semester.

According to Celani, she had raised concerns after dozens of children were placed on a waiting list for her program. 

“We had almost 27 students on a waitlist,” she said. “I’ve never had parents crying in the foyer of the elementary school before.”

Following pressure from parents, the school district granted the program access to an additional classroom shortly before the 2025 school year began.

Roughly two and half months later, Celani said she was called into a meeting with the district and handed the letter informing her the licence would not be renewed.

She later learned the district had issued a call for a new childcare operator before the Christmas break – something neither her staff nor parents were aware of at the time.

Celani said she believes the non-renewal of the licence is an act of retaliation for the earlier successful petition.

“We really feel like this is a punishment,” Celani said. “When the district called us back into the office, they scolded us about forcing them to have ‘difficult and hard conversations’ with parents. That’s part of the district’s responsibility, but they were visibly mad.”

Parents say the sudden change has caused anxiety and confusion among families who rely on the program.

Carla Quezsada, a parent whose children have attended the program for four years, said the Montessori staff have become an important support system for many families.

“We know the entire team at Hampton Park Montessori,” she said. “You feel like they are kind of an extension of your family – especially as an immigrant where you have little support.”

Quezsada said parents were given little information about why the change was happening or who would replace the program.

“When this announcement came out, we wanted to know the information – who was taking over, what is the cause of this change,” she said. “That information hasn’t been provided by the school board.”

According to Quezsada, families were simply told they needed to register with the new provider by a specific deadline.

“It happens so suddenly that we are kind of in shock,” she said. “The bond kids form with childcare providers is not something that you usually just shift like it’s just a business when there are kids involved with emotions.”

Parents say their biggest concern is the lack of transparency around the decision.

In a letter sent to Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Jodie Wickens, parent Ileana Gonzalez said families had received “contradictory information” from different district representatives.

Families were told in some cases that the change was related to a district-wide shift toward non-profit childcare providers, Gonzalez said.

She said parents have been forced to share information with each other in order to piece together what is happening.

“Families have been left confused, distressed, and unable to clearly understand how decisions affecting our children’s daily care, safety, and emotional stability are being made,” Gonzalez said. “This is not how families should have to navigate decisions about their children’s care.”

The petition launched by Celani now calls on the district to provide written justification for the decision, and consult with parents about the future of childcare at the school.

Parents say the issue goes beyond a business dispute and touches on the stability and relationships children have built with caregivers.

“The most distressing aspect of this process is the feeling that our children are being treated as units to be reassigned, rather than as young human beings whose safety, attachment, and emotional well-being depend on stable relationships and continuity of care.”

School District 43 declined to answer any questions from the Tri-Cities Dispatch about this story.