School board will be looking into changing the enrolment boundaries for several district schools, which trustees say are nearing full capacity.
During Tuesday night's board meeting, trustees directed District 57 superintendent Marilyn Marquis-Forster to develop a consultation plan for students, parents and staff related to changes in catchment and capacity of several schools for the 2019-2020 school year. The affected schools would be elementary schools feeding into Duchess Park and Prince George Secondary schools, as well as some elementary schools in the Hart. Consultations would also take place related to a proposed new elementary school planned on the site of the former Blackburn Junior Secondary School, as well as the use of surplus space at Mackenzie Secondary School and enrolment at McBride Elementary and Secondary schools.
It is not yet known what the catchment changes might be for these schools.
"We're at a point where, for some of our feeder schools, we're looking at where would they best fit to go into a high school," trustee Bruce Wiebe said on Tuesday.
"Duchess Park Secondary is a school that's running at capacity. So we're cautious as to how many students will be able to fit into that building and into those programs for the years ahead."
At the January 30 school board meeting, trustees voted to restrict enrolment of students at several area schools to catchment only for the school year beginning next September. These schools are Malaspina Elementary, Southridge Elementary, College Heights Secondary, Heritage Elementary, Glenview Elementary, Hart Highlands Elementary, Springwood Elementary, Edgewood Elementary and Duchess Park Secondary.
In addition, the 2018/19 kindergarten enrolment will be restricted to 40 students at Spruceland Traditional Elementary, Polaris Montessori Elementary and College Heights Elementary's french immersion program. cole Lac des Bois will also see its kindergarten enrolment restricted to 60 students next year.
Students can currently transfer to schools outside of their catchment area, although students in catchment are given first priority.
The region has seen a growth in student numbers in recent years, after years of dropping enrolment. Other districts in B.C. have begun seeing a similar increase.
The motion to direct Marquis-Forster to develop the consultation plan was first introduced at the January 30th school board meeting. Trustees voted to refer the matter back to District trustees for further review by a narrow margin. District chair Tim Bennett, who voted against referring consultations back to committee, suggested the process of consultation should be moved along in hopes of completing the consultations prior to the civic elections slated for this fall.
Wiebe admitted that the subject of changing catchment areas is being handled delicately by trustees.
"If catchment areas are changed, there is nervousness because the community, they get used to going to a certain school. And that's fair!" Wiebe said.
Trustees also voted for a modest increase of 1.5 per cent in remuneration. Beginning July 1, 2018, the district chairperson will be compensated $18,544 per year, while the vice-chair will receive $17,044. Trustees will receive $15,544. The increase in compensation would amount to a $22 per month increase in compensation for trustees.
Trustee Trish Perrin, who will not be running for re-election, said the increases in pay might help provide an incentive for people to run for the position in the upcoming civic elections. The position requires a significant time commitment from individuals who usually work another full-time job, she said.
"I just hope that we can encourage more people to run," Perrin said.
