A survey about which students are accepted to their neighbourhood schools and which aren’t is generating debate in the Greater Victoria School District.
Thousands of parents weighed in on the survey, which was launched to help determine what students should be given enrolment priority as the district grapples with an expected increase of 2,000 students over the next 10 years.
Most respondents said kids who live in a school’s catchment area should be given priority over kids who want to attend a particular school because their sibling does – but some parents say that’s not the solution.
“I think splitting up families is going to be really detrimental,” said parent Meredith Ruelle, whose daughter attends Campus View Elementary.
Ruelle says she wants her pre-schooler son to join her daughter when he starts kindergarten, but the survey results make it unclear whether he’ll be able to do that.
“So many people have been forced to go to out-of-catchment schools because their in-catchment school is full,” she said. “There’s just not enough spots available, but to separate siblings just would be so much of a burden on just about any family. Two drop-offs, two pick-ups, out-of-school care, before-and-after school care is already a huge problem.”
The district is proposing to decrease siblings toward the bottom of a priority enrolment list.
Under the new recommendation, siblings would only get priority after returning students and catchment-area kids.
The district says the recommendation is based on a number of inputs including the survey.
But Ruelle and other parents say the survey was flawed because it didn’t provide enough options for parents to choose from.
“You had to choose between two options, which doesn’t necessarily reflect what your thoughts really are,” said Ruelle. “It made it very skewed in terms of those results, and then they’re using that to say ‘This is what public opinion is.’”
There’s no guarantee siblings would be split up into different schools even if the change goes through, but the district admits fitting everyone into French immersion programs can be tough.
If it were the case, parents say it would be a logistical nightmare and unfair to families.
“A student is part of a greater family unit, so in my mind, once a student is enrolled in a school then that family unit is enrolled in that school,” said parents Drea Prizeman.
The district says it’s listening to the concerns and working hard to make sure both groups get in.
“In addition to this work on priorities, we’re looking at a long-term capital plan,” district superintendent Piet Langstraat said Monday. “There’s a recommendation coming forward to the board this evening to establish a committee to look at reopening schools to be able to relieve some of that enrolment pressure.”
The district says that plan could lead to more neighbourhood kids getting into the school closest to them.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Yvonne Raymond
