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Ottawa’s public school board should close eight schools, says a staff report released Wednesday. On the hit list are Rideau High School, Greenbank and D. Aubrey Moodie middle schools, and five elementary schools in Ottawa’s west end: Grant, Century, Leslie Park, Regina Street and J.H. Putman.
It’s the beginning of a painful five-year process to ensure school buildings are located where they are needed across the city.
Enrolment is declining at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. There are an estimated 11,500 empty pupil spaces in a school district with 70,000 students. Some schools are half empty, while others in fast-growing areas are crowded, their yards jammed with portables.
The first two of seven “accommodation reviews” began Wednesday with reports on elementary schools in the west end and high schools in the east end. The two reports also recommend both closures and changes to programs, such as making Severn Avenue PS a centre for early French immersion students, and expanding Sir Robert Borden, Merivale and Bell high schools to include Grades 7 to 12.
The board begins debate on the reports Sept. 7. There will be months of public meetings, surveys and chances for parents to submit briefs and comments. A decision is expected March 7, 2017.
It’s a complicated puzzle. Staff consider not only the enrolment at each school, but grade configurations and programs, the condition of buildings and which high schools the elementary schools feed into.
School closure debates are often heated and lengthy. Some trustees say it should be easier this time because several policy decisions will guide them. Trustees have voted to phase out middle schools, for instance, so the recommended closure of D. Aubrey Moodie and Greenbank schools is not surprising.
Trustees also want high schools to be large enough to offer a full variety of academic programs, so it was assumed that either Gloucester or Rideau high school in the east would close since both are at less than 42-per-cent capacity.
The board wants to add an academically rigorous international baccalaureate program at a west-end high school, because the one offered at Colonel By Secondary School in the east can’t keep up with demand. The report recommends adding the IB program to Merivale High School, which would boost lagging enrolment there.
Parents, meanwhile, have expressed an overwhelming preference for French-immersion programs for their young children. School board staff also promote the benefits of immersion, and starting this fall all kindergarten classes will be bilingual. Enrolment at English-only elementary schools is dwindling.
The elementary schools targeted for closure include English-program schools with low enrolment.
Trustees now brace themselves for spirited arguments from parents who want to save their schools. The school year begins Tuesday, and trustees begin public debate on the accommodation reports on Wednesday. Some parent councils at low-enrolment schools began organizing around the issue over the summer, while others will be scrambling now.
Most school councils don’t form until late September.
Parent Heather Amundrud, whose son is going into Grade 2 at Regina Street Public School, said the prospect of school closures was sprung on parents just before classes let out for the summer. “Staff isn’t there to talk to, teachers aren’t there, the parents are all gone, trying to keep kids busy over the summer, they aren’t thinking about this,” she said in an earlier interview.
The Merivale-West accommodation review includes 22 elementary and four secondary schools. Among the elementary schools, eight operate at less than 60 per cent capacity, and four operate at more than 100 per cent capacity.
The eastern review only includes Rideau, Gloucester and Colonel By high schools. Rideau’s student population last year was in the “low 400s,” including only 61 students in Grade 9, according to an earlier report. Enrolment at Gloucester High School was projected to continue to decrease over the next few years. If Rideau High School closes as suggested, students will be diverted to Gloucester High School.
High schools should ideally have a population of 800 in order to provide a wide range of program choices, according to staff.
Across the board, 16 elementary schools have populations of 201 students or fewer. Historically, the board has supplemented course offerings in smaller schools by giving “disproportionate staffing” to them, but the number of small schools is increasing and the board can’t afford it.
The board is struggling to eliminate a budget shortfall and can’t afford to keep paying for unused classrooms, or padding the funding to help small schools maintain a variety of programs, staff warn. Seven accommodation reviews are planned over the next five years.
Accommodation reviews – Merivale-West end and east end
The process:
Wednesday, Sept. 7: Trustees meet as a committee of the whole to discuss the staff recommendations. The public can speak at this meeting or submit written briefs. 7:30 p.m. at the board office, 133 Greenbank Rd.
Sept. 13: The full board meets to approve the consultation plan. 7:30 p.m., 133 Greenbank Rd.
Early September: Parents will receive more details from the school board and information about how to provide comments.
Nov. 1: First public meeting, location TBA
Jan. 11, 2017: Second public meeting
Feb. 15, 2017: The board meets as a committee of the whole to debate staff’s final report
March 7, 2017: The board makes a final decision about changes to schools and closures
查看原文...
It’s the beginning of a painful five-year process to ensure school buildings are located where they are needed across the city.
Enrolment is declining at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. There are an estimated 11,500 empty pupil spaces in a school district with 70,000 students. Some schools are half empty, while others in fast-growing areas are crowded, their yards jammed with portables.
The first two of seven “accommodation reviews” began Wednesday with reports on elementary schools in the west end and high schools in the east end. The two reports also recommend both closures and changes to programs, such as making Severn Avenue PS a centre for early French immersion students, and expanding Sir Robert Borden, Merivale and Bell high schools to include Grades 7 to 12.
The board begins debate on the reports Sept. 7. There will be months of public meetings, surveys and chances for parents to submit briefs and comments. A decision is expected March 7, 2017.
It’s a complicated puzzle. Staff consider not only the enrolment at each school, but grade configurations and programs, the condition of buildings and which high schools the elementary schools feed into.
School closure debates are often heated and lengthy. Some trustees say it should be easier this time because several policy decisions will guide them. Trustees have voted to phase out middle schools, for instance, so the recommended closure of D. Aubrey Moodie and Greenbank schools is not surprising.
Trustees also want high schools to be large enough to offer a full variety of academic programs, so it was assumed that either Gloucester or Rideau high school in the east would close since both are at less than 42-per-cent capacity.
The board wants to add an academically rigorous international baccalaureate program at a west-end high school, because the one offered at Colonel By Secondary School in the east can’t keep up with demand. The report recommends adding the IB program to Merivale High School, which would boost lagging enrolment there.
Parents, meanwhile, have expressed an overwhelming preference for French-immersion programs for their young children. School board staff also promote the benefits of immersion, and starting this fall all kindergarten classes will be bilingual. Enrolment at English-only elementary schools is dwindling.
The elementary schools targeted for closure include English-program schools with low enrolment.
Trustees now brace themselves for spirited arguments from parents who want to save their schools. The school year begins Tuesday, and trustees begin public debate on the accommodation reports on Wednesday. Some parent councils at low-enrolment schools began organizing around the issue over the summer, while others will be scrambling now.
Most school councils don’t form until late September.
Parent Heather Amundrud, whose son is going into Grade 2 at Regina Street Public School, said the prospect of school closures was sprung on parents just before classes let out for the summer. “Staff isn’t there to talk to, teachers aren’t there, the parents are all gone, trying to keep kids busy over the summer, they aren’t thinking about this,” she said in an earlier interview.
The Merivale-West accommodation review includes 22 elementary and four secondary schools. Among the elementary schools, eight operate at less than 60 per cent capacity, and four operate at more than 100 per cent capacity.
The eastern review only includes Rideau, Gloucester and Colonel By high schools. Rideau’s student population last year was in the “low 400s,” including only 61 students in Grade 9, according to an earlier report. Enrolment at Gloucester High School was projected to continue to decrease over the next few years. If Rideau High School closes as suggested, students will be diverted to Gloucester High School.
High schools should ideally have a population of 800 in order to provide a wide range of program choices, according to staff.
Across the board, 16 elementary schools have populations of 201 students or fewer. Historically, the board has supplemented course offerings in smaller schools by giving “disproportionate staffing” to them, but the number of small schools is increasing and the board can’t afford it.
The board is struggling to eliminate a budget shortfall and can’t afford to keep paying for unused classrooms, or padding the funding to help small schools maintain a variety of programs, staff warn. Seven accommodation reviews are planned over the next five years.
Accommodation reviews – Merivale-West end and east end
The process:
Wednesday, Sept. 7: Trustees meet as a committee of the whole to discuss the staff recommendations. The public can speak at this meeting or submit written briefs. 7:30 p.m. at the board office, 133 Greenbank Rd.
Sept. 13: The full board meets to approve the consultation plan. 7:30 p.m., 133 Greenbank Rd.
Early September: Parents will receive more details from the school board and information about how to provide comments.
Nov. 1: First public meeting, location TBA
Jan. 11, 2017: Second public meeting
Feb. 15, 2017: The board meets as a committee of the whole to debate staff’s final report
March 7, 2017: The board makes a final decision about changes to schools and closures
查看原文...
