At a public meeting on Monday 19 June, Council will meet to consider a report on the kindergarten service review and community panel statements.

The report responds to each of the three options under consideration and one option will be agreed to proceed. If the preferred option involves exiting services (options 2 or 3), we will consult with impacted staff before a final decision is made in August.

No decision has been made at this stage.

There are some big changes coming for kindergarten as part of the state government’s decision to increase hours, make kindergarten free and offer a second year of kindergarten before school. In this environment, reviewing our services is the responsible thing to do.

Regardless of the decision, there will be ongoing kindergarten services in Knox available to the community.

Knox is one of very few councils left in Melbourne that directly provides kindergarten on the scale that we do so these changes affect us more than other councils.

There are many services we provide on behalf of state and federal governments where funding has not kept up with the cost of providing services over time, and that is a risk that Council has to consider very carefully.

The report and agenda for the meeting will be published next week and an update will be published on this page when it is available.

You can also attend the meeting in person or watch online via our website.