Public school district hopes to stem overcrowding

Meetings to discuss designating 4 new areas to different schools

Edmonton Public Schools hopes to prevent the overcrowding that has plagued two southwest Edmonton schools from recurring in new neighbourhoods along the city’s perimeter.

The school district is concerned construction in three new neighbourhoods — Albany in Edmonton’s northwest, Maple in the southeast and The Orchards in the south — could quickly fill nearby schools to capacity as families move into each area, said Lorne Parker, managing director of planning, property management and transportation for Edmonton Public Schools.

That’s what happened at Johnny Bright School, in Rutherford at 1331 Rutherford Rd., and at Esther Starkman School, in Terwillegar Towne at 2717 Terwillegar Way. Both schools opened in September 2010 as K-9 schools but will become K-7 schools this fall. Surging enrolment filled both schools and hundreds of Grades 8 and 9 students will have to attend classes elsewhere in September to make room for younger students.

The school district will meet this fall with families in Albany, Maple and The Orchards, as well as families in the established southwest neighbourhood of Cameron Heights, about plans to designate those four neighbourhoods to different schools, Parker said. That could mean students have to bus past the nearest school to get to the designated school, he said.

“We have no choice but to move forward in this direction because we won’t be able to accommodate the growth coming out of these neighbourhoods,” Parker said.

“This is the time of the year when there’s lots of construction occurring and we wanted to give advance notice that we’re looking at those attendance areas so people have as much information as they can get in making their decisions. ... These are new neighbourhoods so, right now, we’re affecting a very small number (of families).”

Albany’s designated school is Elizabeth Finch elementary junior high school, at 13815 160th Ave., one of six public schools that opened in Edmonton in 2010. The school, which has an 870-student capacity, has 873 students registered for September, district numbers show.

Maple’s designated school is A. Blair McPherson elementary junior high school, at 430 Tamarack Green, which expects 1,041 students this fall, nine fewer than capacity. Only about one student from the Maple neighbourhood attends A. Blair McPherson now because few homes are built there yet, Parker said.

“We’re looking at redesignating Maple to another school in the area,” he said. “We’re moving farther into the core, but there are schools that have space out there still.”

Students from The Orchards attend Michael Strembitsky elementary junior high school, at 4110 Savaryn Dr., which expects 999 students in September and can hold 1,050. The Orchards is south of the Summerside neighbourhood in which Michael Strembitsky school is located.

“I think we only have 30 kids coming out of that neighbourhood right now, but it’s still under development,” Parker said.

Cameron Heights is designated to Ormsby Elementary School, at 6323 184th St., but the district expects to designate the neighbourhood to Michael A. Kostek elementary school, 5303 190th St. That’s where most families in Cameron Heights send their kids to school anyway, under the city’s open-boundary system, Parker said.

The school district will hold community meetings in the fall to inform families of the options the district is examining for the school redesignations and to gather feedback about the potential changes.

The district will advertise the fall meeting dates and times in the Edmonton Journal.