The Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) is running out of space in their Bonnyville schools, sparking much debate as to what the best option is.
The district hopes that a reconfiguration of grades within its schools in town can solve that problem, but parents disagree. Last week, LCSD administration and the board of trustees hosted an open house with parents to discuss options to free up classroom space for next year.
Two options were presented for feedback. The first would see Notre Dame Elementary School (NDES) switched to a Kindergarten to Grade 3 school. The Grade 4 classes currently at NDES would be moved to Dr. Brosseau School, which would then become a Grade 4 to 7 school. Grade 8s would instead be included in Notre Dame High School.
“Assuming our kindergartens are the same as this year, but they'll most likely go up, the elementary school would have 314 students, Dr. Brosseau would have 318 students, and the high school would become a Grade 8 to 12 and have 336 students,” explained LCSD superintendent Joe Arruda.
Option two would again see NDES changed to a Kindergarten to Grade 3. Dr. Brosseau would take in the Grade 4 classes, but the Grade 8 students would remain in the school as well. NDHS would stay a Grade 9 to 12 school.
“We need at least two classrooms at the elementary school. Right now, every classroom in the elementary school is being used,” Arruda told parents. “We looked at trying to model the Cold Lake system, with two Kindergarten to Grade 6 schools and a Grade 7 to 12, but that would mean we'd have to redraw the boundaries for Bonnyville. We would be separating students that have been together for all these years and we didn't feel that was a good option.”
With the two options the district drew up out for discussion, parents quickly voiced their disapproval to both. Many took exception to the idea of Grade 8 students being mixed in with the high school for a number of reasons, including the issue it would create for Grade 7/8 sporting teams, and safety concerns.
Gisele Brawn has three kids enrolled in the district, in preschool, Grade 7 and Grade 10. Her worries come from both sides, of her daughter being mixed in with older high school students too early and her son in high school missing out due to an extra grade being included.
“Their brains are just not mature enough at 12 or 13-years-old to be faced with the tough decisions that high school kids have to face. That is a huge pressure system in the high school. It's tough at Grades 9 to 12, putting them in there even younger is just unfathomable.”
She added, “My other big concern is my high school student potentially losing options and classroom space for things that are finally new and exciting at the school. Let's be real, it's the high school grades that matter in the end. That's where they're really choosing their paths, that's where I think it's important to keep the younger kids out of messing with that.”
Brawn's speech was met with applause, with other parents in attendance echoing the same concerns. Many outwardly expressed that should the LCSD trustees choose to move Grade 8 to the high school, they would be moving their children to a different school division.
Arruda explained that a change needs to be made one way or another, as the status quo won't fit the growing student population. Last year, the province projected LCSD would have an increase of one per cent, however, as of Sept. 30, 2016 the number of students across the district had gone up by 13 per cent. In Bonnyville, their schools saw a 6.3 per cent jump.
In NDES alone, the number of students in Kindergarten to Grade 4 has gone from 359 last year, to 396 as of Feb. 1. For the 2017-18 school year, the district needs to create space for one additional Kindergarten classroom and one more class for Grade 2.
However, as the schools haven't met the 80 per cent utilization rate yet, as determined by the province, they aren't eligible for portables, leaving the district no other option but to reconfigure the existing schools.
Not in favour of the two options presented to them, district parents offered a number of other solutions for the board to consider.
One of the more popular suggestions was to move the preschool program out of NDES and into a new space, whether that be Dr. Brosseau, NDHS, or a building outside of the schools.
Arruda noted though that if they rented a space, the price of preschool for parents would have to increase to pay for that additional expense. As well, he believes that losing the preschool from the elementary school would mean less kids moving up through the system – a fact that parents weren't buying into.
“I do hope that there were enough valid points that perhaps they hadn't heard before that were brought to light, maybe that will shift some ideas. I thought people made some great points and had great ideas that I hadn't thought of,” said Brawn. “Hopefully, they can pick and choose out of those points to come up with something that will work for everybody. It would be so sad to lose so many kids out of the system because of this.”
After much discussion and debate, Arruda will be presenting a report to the LCSD board of trustees from the open house. There was also an online survey available last week for parents to provide their input through. Both will be taken into consideration by the board when making their decision.
“What I took away from the meeting was that parents didn't want to see a change in the configuration of the schools for a variety of different reasons, and that we should look at some other alternatives. So, we will do so,” said board chair Mary Anne Penner, adding the points parents brought up may be considered as options.
“They'll be on the table and definitely be open for discussion.”
According to Penner, the board could have a decision as early as their April board meeting mid-month, or at the latest, before the end of the school year.
“Hopefully we'll be able to come to a solution that works for everyone,” said Penner.
