School District 73 is moving ahead with catchment area changes for three areas starting in the fall of 2022.
The school board accepted the seven recommendations that came forward after an extensive consultation period.
The areas discussed this week were:
Aberdeen Elementary/Pacific Way Elementary
Sa-Hali Secondary/South Kamloops Secondary
Dallas Elementary/Clemitson Elementary
Board Chair Rhonda Kershaw says she doesn’t believe there was any geographic area that involved confusion or concern about how boundaries would be changing.
“One of the things that we talked a lot about and we’re trying to grasp is what happens to those kids that perhaps are already there form out of catchment in those schools. And so what we learned, and what we accepted the decision of staff to recommend, was that those children that are in those schools from out of catchment already, the numbers are very low and they won’t be changing. That was one point that we talked a lot about.”
Kershaw says another issue that was discussed at some length was walkability and traffic safety, particularly in the Aberdeen/Pacific Way catchment area. “That is moving some of those students that will then have to cross Aberdeen Drive. It is definitively a concern. We will have to work with the city over the next 14 months to see if we can put some different safety plans in place, but at the end of the day the board did accept the recommendations of staff.”
It is noted that students that are closer to graduating from their current school and might have to move as a result of the changes will not have to worry about going to a different school. “We made sure that no siblings would be separated either because that creates some real challenges for families in lots of ways. So we did feel, and when we looked at the catchment changes when we reopened Westsyde Elementary, we found that really helped to smooth the transition because then students weren’t transitioning into a new school for one year and then heading into high school.”
With the board accepting the recommendations, it will now be moving ahead with next steps. “We will be working with the parent groups and with the administration at those specific schools to see what that will look like in 14 months when those children all move that boundary.”
Kershaw says that anyone with questions can contact the administrators in the schools that your children are in and you can also reach out to the trustee at your kids school and they can point you in the right direction.
This week’s discussion did not involve Juniper Ridge catchment as that goes through a different process because it involves the proposed reopening of Ralph Bell Elementary. That consultation period will end on Monday, June 21 and a report will go before the board on June 28.
The seven recommendations that were approved by the board on Monday are:
1) the proposed change for Sa-Hali/South Kamloops Secondary catchments making Dufferin Elementary a feeder school for South Kamloops Secondary to reduce the enrolment pressure at Sa-Hali Secondary be implemented in September of 2022;
2) district programs presently housed at Sa-Hali Secondary be re-located to other secondary schools on the south shore of Kamloops;
3) district administration consult with the school administration of south shore secondary schools to determine the best location for these district programs;
4) the proposed change to the Aberdeen/Pacific Way catchments presented in the report to the Board of April 12, 2021 to reduce the enrolment pressure at Pacific Way Elementary be implemented in September of 2022;
5) the students presently in grade five at Pacific Way Elementary remain at Pacific Way Elementary to complete their grade 7 year, and siblings of students in this grade cohort be permitted to remain at Pacific Way Elementary or enroll at Aberdeen Elementary;
6) the proposed change for Dallas/RL Clemitson catchments presented in the report to the Board of April 12, 2021 to reduce the enrolment pressure at Dallas Elementary School be implemented in September of 2022;
7) the students presently in grade five at Dallas Elementary School remain at Dallas Elementary School to complete their grade 7 year, and siblings of students in this grade cohort be permitted to remain at Dallas Elementary or enroll at R.L. Clemitson Elementary.
