Parents keeping up pressure against contentious OCDSB shakeup
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board hearing from parents again Wednesday night
Maria Garrett chose to live where she does because her home is only about 600 metres from Knoxdale Public School and she enjoys the bonding experience of walking her kids to class.
"We meet other families along the way, we speak to the crossing guards," she told CBC by email. "Not only is this a routine and [it builds] a sense of community ... it also decreases the traffic in the area [because we don't] drive."
However, under a controversial restructuring plan proposed by Ottawa's largest English school board, Garrett's children would be moved to Manordale Public School, 2.2 kilometres east of Knoxdale.
The switch would mean a new 20-minute walk — probably longer for the kids. It could require the family to take up wheels and "turn a once pleasant routine into another gridlock situation," she said.
Garrett's concern about the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) elementary program review also touches on school capacity.
Under the plan, which is being billed in part as an effort to offer French immersion and English at almost every school in the district, Manordale would become over-capacity at 105 per cent, while Knoxdale and the other school in the area, Briargreen, would go down to 61 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively.
As another parent in the area, Paul Black, put it in a prepared submission to the board, "Why force kids to change schools and put Manordale over-capacity while leaving other schools sitting 1/3 empty?"
Calls to delay vote
The OCDSB will be facing a lot of similar questions on Wednesday night.
That's when the financially troubled education board will be holding the second of two special meetings to hear from concerned parents and teachers about the plan. The meeting will follow a rally held by parents outside the board office.
But unlike the first delegation session held in late February, Wednesday's meeting is taking place after the board made its proposed boundary changes public.
No surprise, then, that, while still reflecting concerns about the board's decision to eliminate some programs, the stacked speaker's list also features many people concerned about the boundary shuffle.
Like Black, Kristin Philippi is also slated to address the board on Wednesday. She too lives in the Craig Henry area and is worried about reduced walkability for her children, and leaving schools underutilized.
While she understands the board is in what she called a "precarious" financial position — staring down its fifth straight deficit and now talking about cutting 150 full-time jobs — Philippi wants the vote delayed and the board to consider reducing senior executives' salaries.
"We've invested hours into this fight, after our day jobs and our second shifts as parents, reading reports and searching for legal precedents into the wee hours of the morning," she said in a prepared submission about the gathering storm of opposition.
"I've never seen such unity in a community before," echoed Garrett in an interview with CBC.
LISTEN / Board chair Lynn Scott on what she's heard:
'This is rushed'
For Kayla Fernet, who is also poised to speak on Wednesday, the board's plan is a one-size-fits-all solution that doesn't address the realities of living in rural parts of the district. It will also cause her family some logistical headaches, she said.
Fernet's son is in Grade 1 at Kars on the Rideau Public School, about 10 kilometres south of Manotick.
Under the board's plan, that school will only offer Grade 4 to Grade 8 starting in 2026, so Fernet's son will have to move next year to North Gower/Marlborough Public School, seven kilometres west of Kars on the Rideau.
Then, when he starts Grade 4, he will go back to Kars on the Rideau once again.
"In some of our youngest learners, we're seeing multiple transitions," Fernet said.
To add another wrinkle: when Fernet's son goes back to Kars on the Rideau, her daughter, who is two years younger, will remain at North Gower/Marlborough.
"So now I [will] have two different bell times, two different buses," she said.
And even though the family lives close to North Gower/Marlborough, her son would need to be bused because there are no sidewalks from their house to the school.
"It just seems that, in terms of a process, this is rushed," she said.
Trustees are expected to vote on the plan next month.
Earlier this week, Pino Buffone, the board's director of education, said he's a parent himself and he understands what others are bringing forward. The board has already said it's reconsidering some parts of the plan.
"We are trying to balance what we hear [and sort] through what is a wish versus something that's a real strong need," he said on Monday.
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with files from Gabrielle Huston and Kate Porter