By Mike Straus
The planned grade reconfiguration at West 91大黄鸭 schools has generated much opposition since it was announced, with parents and school board members alike concerned about the impact of such a fast change.
Concerns about budget, student readiness, school capacity, and school amenities abound, and it appears that there may simply be no such thing as a good solution.
Central Okanagan school board chair Moyra Baxter says that while similar reconfigurations have been rather simple and straightforward in other areas, West 91大黄鸭鈥檚 existing overcrowding problem is complicating reconfiguration plans.
鈥淩econfiguration is something we鈥檝e been working toward for many years,鈥� Baxter says. 鈥淲e were able to do it fairly quickly in Rutland, and without making too many changes to the schools, because we had the space to do it. But on the Westside, our elementary schools are quite crowded, and we don鈥檛 have the space we need at Mount Boucherie. That鈥檚 why the staff suggested a staged reconfiguration.鈥�
Baxter says that the school board has had to find approximately 50 new classroom spaces in the school district in order to accommodate increasing enrollment and to comply with the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision on class size and composition. The space shortage in West 91大黄鸭 schools is also partly due to past population growth projections that turned out to be too low.
The planned staged reconfiguration would see area Grade 9 students moved to Mount Boucherie Secondary School and Grade 6 students moved into local middle schools. However, not all schools will be making the change at the same time. Grade 9 students at Constable Neil Bruce will be sent to Mount Boucherie Secondary School, for instance, but Grade 9 students at Glenrosa Middle School will be staying put for the time being.
Baxter says that this reconfiguration plan is necessary in order to prevent overcrowding at local elementary schools and to save taxpayer dollars.
鈥淚f we do this right away, we won鈥檛 have to put portables on the elementary school properties at this time. Our staff also told us that it would cost an extra $1 million to wait a year before executing this plan.鈥�
However, local parents are concerned that the reconfiguration plan is too rushed, and that budgetary savings are coming at the cost of their children鈥檚 education. Local parent Carrie Smith says she鈥檚 worried about whether her children will receive all the same opportunities for extracurriculars that she had when she was a student.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone was given enough time to prepare for this change. I have two kids鈥攐ne in Grade 5 and one in Grade 8鈥攁nd I worry about them being out in a portable because portables don鈥檛 have lockers. Plus, the portables will take space away from the sports programs and segregate the students away from the rest of the school population, which isn鈥檛 ideal for making a transition. The school board could have taken a year to revamp some of these portables and make them more suitable for students of this age.鈥�
Smith says that West 91大黄鸭 needs another secondary school, as Mount Boucherie is already at capacity, and reconfiguration doesn鈥檛 address that problem.
Parent Sara Neukomm agrees that the school board hasn鈥檛 adequately planned for when Mount Boucherie exceeds capacity.
鈥淚mposing this grade reconfiguration for September 2018 starts the clock ticking on Mount Boucherie,鈥� Neukomm says. 鈥淚f the school board鈥檚 enrollment projections are off by just 10 per cent, then in five years we鈥檒l have big problems. If Boucherie hits capacity the district will have to send new students elsewhere, but there鈥檚 nowhere else to send them.鈥�
Neukomm says she鈥檚 also concerned for local special needs children, who may need more time to adjust to the grade reconfiguration.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a specialist, but I know that change is a big deal for children on the autism spectrum. A parent on the George Pringle Elementary PAC said their goal is to make sure the kids coming in are fed. I worry about those kids getting lost in the system when they head off to middle school a year earlier than expected, with no plan in place to make sure their needs are met.鈥�
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