Catholic board grappling with northwest boundaries By Tim Whitnell METROLAND MEDIA WEST Concerns from parents over students having to change schools and bus instead of walk to school, are front and centre as the Halton Catholic District School Board tries to distribute student numbers in growing northwest Oakville. Members of the West Oak Trails #5, Mother Teresa, Our Lady of Peace, Pope John Paul II and St. Joan of Arc School Boundary Review Committee were before trustees at Tuesday night's school board meeting. The committee's presentation of its final report, drew two-dozen parents and outlined 18 recommendations. Those recommendations will go back to the Feb. 21 board meeting for discussion and voting. The public can apply to delegate at the board meeting. The committee had whittled the school attendance boundary options to three scenarios, following internal meetings. It presented those to the board, and subsequently to the public, at a Jan. 11 open house at Pope John Paul II. Some 150 parents attended. Board facilities superintendent Giacomo Corbacio told trustees Tuesday that less than half of the 40 written comments received from parents at the open house supported a preference for one of the three options under consideration -- most didn't want any of them. "It's a typical boundary review. We are not able to accommodate all (parental) concerns," said Corbacio. "We have been accused at (the open house) meetings that we are not considering the feelings of students who would have to move (schools)," but Corbacio said the committee and staff are doing the best they can to limit that scenario. The superintendent said the board could choose to `grandfather' some students under the new attendance boundary, to let them stay at their current school under an exemption, and possibly allow their siblings to be grandfathered as well, but he warned such a move could backfire. If many parents chose for their children to be grandfathered to attend their current school it could lead to overcapacity at that school at some point, and have implications for school programming and portables, which the boundary review is trying to avoid or limit, said Corbacio. The committee recommended Option No. 3 to the board for the establishment of the new West Oak Trails #5 elementary school in September 2012, along with considerations to address current overcrowding at Pope John Paul II and St. Joan of Arc, declining enrolment at Mother Teresa and Our Lady of Peace as well as future student accommodation needs in the West Oak Trails community. Among the slew of committee recommendations for trustees to consider Feb. 21 is that starting with the 2012-13 school year students from new residential development areas north of Dundas Street will be directed to the new West Oak Trails #5 school. The current rural student attendance area boundaries will not be affected. A related, but separate motion, is likely to 3 · Friday, February 10, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Inside Opinion............................................6 Worship..........................................20 Artscene.........................................21 Sports.............................................25 Classified.......................................29 Full Delivery: New Homes, Bill & Bal Thandi/Mindrate, Scott Astaphan Sothebey's, Physiomed Fitness Trafalgar,, Smart Source, Oakville Wrap,, Rabba Fine Foods, Women's Club Hoopers Pharmacy Partial Delivery: Goemans For home delivery & customer service call (905) 845-9742 Mon., Tues. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., Thu., and Fri. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (open for calls only after 5 p.m.) Closed Sat. and Sun. New subscriptions call (905) 845-9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com be debated as well at the Feb. 21 board meeting. The review committee will be recommending an all-day kindergarten program start at West Oak Trails #5 in September, if it can satisfy Ministry of Education guidelines. The bottom line for the review committee and the board is to implement an attendance boundary in the West Oak Trails community that will more equitably distribute students. Trustees have been told that without boundary changes, in the next few years Mother Teresa and Our Lady of Peace would have several empty classrooms each, while Pope John Paul II could have as many as 1,000 students and 19 portables by 2021. "Even with all the (recommendations), we are not doing as great a job as we need to do to relieve (student population) pressure at Pope John Paul II and fill up (to capacity) West Oak Trails," said Corbacio. Beyond the boundary review for northwest Oakville, Corbacio told trustees there will need to be further discussion about which high school West Oak Trails students will attend upon elementary school graduation -- St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Ignatius of Loyola. The list of West Oak Trails school boundary review committee recommendations, along with relevant maps, will be made available on the board's website (www.hcdsb.org/Schools/ Construction/WestOakTrails5/Pages/default. aspx) by the end of this week. VALENTINES WEEK PROMOTION W e Want to Show You Our Love! Make a date with our Design Team the Week of February 13th-19th Up to 40% Off a ap e & r w t Un cola e ff iv o ch rece % o 40 entire 5% our der! y or Custom Inground Swimming Pools One Company. 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