Staff with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board admitted to having a bit of tunnel vision when it came to deciding which students will attend the new Holy Cross elementary school, as four of the board’s South End elementary schools close.
However, with the help of parents participating in two recent consultations, staff were able to find a creative way around the problem.
About 20 parents were on hand at the Feb. 8 school board meeting, as trustees voted on a number of measures surrounding Holy Cross, a junior kindergarten to Grade 6 school being built next to St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.
A survey of parents last year, found Holy Cross would have been overcapacity if all the students who wanted to go to the school were allowed to go.
Current Corpus Christi and St. Theresa school students were previously promised their choice of attending Holy Cross or St. Francis after their schools closed.
Staff recommended last month this promise be revoked, and boundaries dictating where Corpus Christi and St. Theresa students would attend school in the future be imposed.
Trustees also needed to figure out what to do, given Holy Cross school won’t be ready for September 2011 as originally planned, because of construction delays.
Board staff now estimate the school will be ready in February 2012, at the earliest.
Parents told staff during consultations they were concerned about where their children would be attending school in September.
It feels like the parents were really listened to this time.
Simon Nickson,
parent of child at St. Theresa Catholic Elementary School
They also said the board should allow St. Theresa and Corpus Christi students a choice between St. Francis and Holy Cross schools.
Parents also said they wanted French Immersion students evenly distributed between St. Francis and Holy Cross schools.
Imposing school boundaries on St. Theresa, which has a French Immersion program, would have left Holy Cross with not enough French Immersion students.
Based on recommendations from staff, trustees decided Corpus Christi school will remain open for the entire 2011-2012 school year.
St. Theresa and St. Christopher schools will remain open in September 2011.
All students at these two schools will eventually end up attending Holy Cross. The board will consider moving these two schools to Holy Cross when it opens in the winter or spring of 2012.
Board chair Barry MacDonald said moving St. Theresa students to Holy Cross ensures the new school will have a strong French Immersion program.
As well, all Grade 7 and 8 students will move to St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, and St. Michael School will be closed and move to St. Francis School in September 2011.
Trustees also voted to tweak the school boundaries which dictate which new students will attend St. Francis school as of September 2011. The boundary will consist of the existing boundaries for St. Francis, Corpus Christi and St. Michael.
For the 2012-2013 school year, Corpus Christi School would be closed, and parents of current students will be allowed the choice between Holy Cross and St. Francis schools.
Because Holy Cross may be overcapacity come the fall of 2012, the school board will consider using the day care space at Holy Cross as classroom space.
MacDonald said the decisions made by trustees were a “win-win.”
“The parents are quite happy with it, I believe, and the staff is happy with it,” he said. “Through consultation and a lot of meetings, we came up with a good solution.”
Simon Nickson, whose son attends St. Theresa, said he’s happy with the decisions made by trustees. “It feels like the parents were really listened to this time,” he said. “We were asked for input.”
