A decision by the Greater Victoria School District to revise its list of enrolment priorities for students has some parents relieved – and others scrambling.
School District 61 recently decided to reassess enrolment priorities to put a greater emphasis on making sure there’s space for kids at the school closest to them.
That means beginning in the 2018/2019 school year, priority will go to students in the following order:
- Returning students
- Children in catchment area with a sibling already in the school
- Catchment area children
- Non-catchment area siblings
- Non-catchment area children
- Non-school district children
Siblings were previously number two on the priority list, but now they’ve been split into two categories, meaning non-catchment area siblings could lose spots to new students in catchment without siblings at their school.
The board says the decision is about being able to plan for the future.
“Basically what we’ve said is that students who live in the school’s catchment area will have the first priority,” said Tom Ferries, Greater Victoria School Board Vice-Chair.
“In our school district, up until now we’ve had 30 per cent of our student’s going to a school that’s not somewhere in their neighbourhood.”
The decision has left some parents, like Ann Klein, uncertain what will happen when her youngest daughter starts school.
“I feel like I’m going to be stressed for the next year and a bit,” she said.
Klein’s older daughter doesn’t go to a school in her catchment area because it was full when she went into kindergarten, and now her youngest is fourth on the priority list since she’ll be out-of-catchment as well.
Drea Prizeman, a mother of three, says she believes families that are already enrolled at a school should have priority when it comes to younger siblings starting school.
“Those families that are already enrolled that were told at the time they enrolled that younger siblings could follow, I wish that they could have honoured those promises,” said Prizeman.
Ferries said despite the changes, he doesn’t think it will be tough to keep siblings together because it’s what the district wants as well.
For more information on student enrolment priorities in SD61, click here to go to the district’s website.
