New school not big enough?

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board recently found out its new Holy Cross elementary school, under construction in the city’s South End, is a little too popular with parents.

Current students at the board’s Corpus Christi and St. Theresa elementary schools have a choice of attending Holy Cross or St. Francis elementary schools next fall, when their old schools close.

A board survey sent to families of students at these schools showed 92 per cent of the Corpus Christi school community and 95 per cent of the St. Theresa school community want to attend Holy Cross.

If the requests were implemented, Holy Cross would be overcapacity and St. Francis undercapacity.

“It’s a great thing that everybody wants to go to our school,” Barry MacDonald, chair of the school board, said. “We love it. But now it’s not big enough to accommodate all those students.”

To solve this problem, board staff are recommending trustees impose the same school boundaries on current students as are being applied to new students. The boundaries dictate which school the students will attend.

At their Jan. 18 board meeting, trustees decided to put off voting on the issue until Feb. 8, giving them time to meet with school councils from each of the affected schools.

St. Michael and St. Christopher elementary schools are also due to close, with all of the St. Michael students going to St. Francis, and all of the St. Christopher students going to Holy Cross.

Maryellen Castrechino, whose eight-year-old son, Robbie, attends Grade 3 at Corpus Christi, said she’s happy the board is consulting parents.

She said the school board boundaries divide her neighbourhood in half, but she wants to send Robbie to Holy Cross because most of his friends will be going there, and also because it’s a brand new school with “lots of opportunities.”

The board is also facing delays with construction of Holy Cross, ensuring the school will not be ready for students in September of this year.

The contractor hired to lay the school’s foundation had fallen behind in the construction schedule. This contractor was fired, and the foundation was laid by the contractor hired to build the school.

Board staff aren’t giving an estimate for the school’s completion yet, as they want to see how far construction proceeds over the next few months.

Additions to St. Francis and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, which are also being built to accommodate the students from the closing schools, are on time.

MacDonald said all of the Holy Cross students will be taught together in one location next fall until their new school is ready. This location will be determined at a future board meeting, he said.