Bottom-line, parents want the least amount of families disrupted in the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB)’s school boundary review in Stratford.
That’s what three community members, Justin Erb, Kira Hughes, and Sean Rowsome, said at the AMDSB board meeting Tuesday evening.
Although each brought up different points, and in some cases want different things for the new boundaries, Rowsome said that they are a united front.
“There are three delegations here,” Rowsome said. “But we could really be one group of people … We're one group of parents, basically, from Stratford that just want the fewest number of kids to be impacted by this.”
So far, two options for Stratford have been pushed to the front of consideration for the board.
The preferred solution for the Stratford and area boundary review committee and AMDSB staff is option two, as listed in the report on the AMDSB’s website.
It would direct Area 3 students, currently attending Avon Public School, to Downie Central Public School, redirecting 264 existing students.
The other option preferred is listed as option four, or the public feedback option.
Option four has areas 2, 5, and 6 students, currently attending Avon Public School, be directed to Downie Central Public School and Central Perth Public School.
It would only redirect 120 existing students, though six schools would not be efficiently utilized. They would be below 80 per cent enrolment, based on long term projections.
Erb and Rowsome advocated for option four in their presentations. Hughes advocated for an amended version of option four.
There were two main differences from option four in her presentation: one was to allow for legacy students to remain and the other was to address border crossing on a school by school need.
For example, Hughes said, Avon Public School has 42 students border crossing in, but 58 students crossing out. If a blanket ban on border crossing is in place, it would be counterproductive to the review’s purpose.
Superintendent Cheri Carter, after the delegations were finished, told the board that Hughes’ modified option four idea will be shared with Watson to vet, explaining that option four was created in the first place due to a similar process.
Erb had previously proposed an option to Carter, which later became option four once she conferred with Watson.
Watson will review the numbers from their perspective, Carter confirmed, to see if it is a viable option.
A special board meeting on the boundary review is scheduled for May 7 at Stratford Intermediate School in the Pathways Innovation Centre on the third floor.
Additional delegations are welcome at this meeting, to voice their opinions on the boundary review.
The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.. Anyone interested in delegating is asked to contact Barb Crawford at [email protected].
