Enrolment priorities reworked to keep siblings together

A proposed change in Greater Victoria school district’s enrolment priorities isn’t perfect, but could help some families keep their children together as they make their way through the education system, says one parent.

Drea Prizeman had been worried the new enrolment rules might mean her two preschool children couldn’t join their older brother, who is in Grade 1 of French immersion at Campus View Elementary.

Parents have also expressed concern about keeping siblings together if school-catchment-area children are given precedence in the enrolment process. The new proposal released Friday by a district committee, which includes four parents, lists the priorities in order: • students already enrolled • catchment-area siblings • catchment-area children • non-catchment-area siblings • non-catchment-area children • non-school-district children

“It’s good for us, for sure,” Prizeman said of the proposal. “But I think there’s still a lot of families that are left in a bit of a hard place.”

District superintendent Piet Langstraat said there has been “tons of feedback” from the community about enrolment priorities, and a decision will be made at the June 26 school board meeting. No changes will be made until the 2018-19 school year.

The enrolment issue has come to a head because of a space crunch in the district from rising enrolment. The number of students is expected to jump by 2,000 over the next decade, from to 21,000 from 19,000.

Also contributing to the crunch is last year’s Supreme Court of Canada decision restoring 2002 contract language for B.C. teachers, which is leading to smaller class sizes and a need for more classrooms.

One group that could have problems is families who send their children to a French-immersion elementary program outside their school-catchment area. Getting siblings into the program could prove difficult, said Prizeman, who hopes school board trustees consider “grandfathering” those families.

Many families live in rented homes, which can result in their school catchments changing, she said.

“The reality of us being able to stay here for five years is really up to whether our landlord decides it’s worth more to sell,” she said. “I think [the priorities are] favouring people who are able to buy a home in this very overpriced market.”

Langstraat said the committee studying enrolment priorities will also look at the possibility of re-opening closed schools — seven elementary schools were closed from 2003-2007 as a result of declining enrolment — and revising catchment boundaries.

The former Richmond Elementary School has already generated some discussion as a site for re-opening.

The committee is also being asked to assess French immersion programming and the possibility of adding to it, Langstraat said.

Nine of 27 district elementary schools have French immersion programs.

“That’s really where a lot of the pressure has been over the last year or two, in terms of space,” he said. “Having said that, we are also seeing those same issues occurring with English programming.”