Cam Johnson Asks:
What are your thoughts on the overcrowding of many of the cities school’s? And what can be done to help that problem?
It needs to be addressed on a school by school basis. In some cases there are just a few more students than the school was built for so a portable is appropriate, in other cases there are many more students in a neighborhood and asking the province to provide funding for a new school or an addition is best. Unfortunately, the province has a very complex formula for determining where additions and new schools are placed. The district must prove that 1) there are enough extra students to justify building an addition or new school - hence numerous portables at Valleyview. 2) There is no extra capacity at neighboring schools - leading to multiple portables in Aberdeen area schools while we wait for approval for a school in Pineview. 3) That there is growth enrollment in the district - supported by several years of enrollment data and birth records.
Re-opening schools (such as Westsyde) cost money to bring them back to operational functionality especially if they have been closed for more than a decade, but are certainly options that need to be looked at. Schools such as Ralph Bell and Happy Vale are currently housing multiple day cares and preschools, so opening those schools would result in losing a lot of child care spaces when there is already a severe shortage and this would need a lot of thought before that step should be taken. As well, most of the closed schools are in areas where there are not enrollment pressures so that means that students would be bused out of their neighborhoods, away from friends, and no longer within walking distance. This could potentially increase traffic as parents drive students to and from sports and after school activities that are not compatible with a bus schedule. This also leads to a disconnect with their neighborhood. Many parents would probably rather have their children at a neighborhood school in a portable than on a bus to a school in a different area of the city. A prime example of this is Sun Peaks where all the students are in portables so they don't have to ride the bus to Heffley Creek.
In short, portables meet a need short term, schools and additions take a really long time to get funding, and re-opening schools needs a lot of thought to make sure it's being done for the right reasons and in the right area.