www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, March 2, 2012 · 4 Catholic school board grapples with northwest growth By Tim Whitnell METROLAND MEDIA WEST Many parents at last week's Halton Catholic District School Board meeting left happy, but at least one was visibly angry and stormed from the room during trustee voting on the West Oak Trails No. 5 school attendance boundary review recommendations. The always-contentious issue of school boundary reviews drew about three-dozen parents to the boardroom for a three-hour meeting. Three public delegations were heard along with extensive trustee discussion. Then came the voting -- on 15 resolutions formulated by a boundary review committee for the West Oak Trails No. 5 elementary school that's opening this fall. When the debate was over, some parents were ecstatic their children will remain at Pope John Paul II Elementary School with their neighbourhood not being directed to the new West Oak Trails No. 5 school. Resolutions that went to the board from the boundary review committee were intended to address current student overcrowding at Pope John Paul II and St. Joan of Arc elementary schools, declining enrolment at Mother Teresa and Our Lady of Peace, and future student accommodation needs in West Oak Trails. Trustees had already been told that without boundary changes, in the next few years Mother Teresa and Our Lady of Peace would have several empty classrooms while Pope John Paul II could have as many as 1,000 students and 19 portables by 2021. Parents living in the area of Kwinter Road just south of Dundas Street have argued 82 students from the area now walk to Pope John Paul II but, if moved, would have to be bused to the new school. "We recognize the (proposed) boundaries were drawn from purely a quantitative perspective, but we ask you to consider keeping these kids at their school and walking," parent Mark O'Connor told trustees in a presentation with parent Alan Blundell. "They (students) are more than numbers, they are families and friends. Extend the (Pope John Paul II) boundary to include this small pocket of children," Blundell implored citing health and environmental impacts of walking versus busing. Oakville trustee Anthony Danko challenged board staff as to why the Kwinter Road families were so prominent in the boundary review. "They've been in every single (option). Why do these folks have no other choice?" asked Danko, which elicited applause from many parents in the boardroom. Education superintendent Mary Tessari said, "There were about eight, nine, 10 (boundary) scenarios that we reviewed from the get-go. They (review committee) ultimately came up with the best scenarios based on the information provided." Danko also questioned whether the board had a written policy or guiding principle of keeping walking students as `walkers' when considering boundary changes. There is no such wording in the board policies, he heard. Like the Kwinter Road contingent, a trio of parents from Pope John Paul II School asked that the 58 children in their geographical area be allowed to remain at Pope John Paul II. They said many of the students live within half a kilometre of Pope John Paul II, but would end up having to walk at least three times that distance to another school, St. Joan of Arc, including the busy West Oak Trails and Postmaster Drive. They argued the board would be moving students from one overcrowded school to another. Parent John Courtney told trustees his Grade 6 daughter was dreading being moved to another school. Courtney said his daughter is an A student, but that changing schools is worrying her and it "is having a negative impact on her school work and at home." Courtney told trustees he was forced to sell his home several years ago and found another one within the Pope John Paul II boundary, but that now they were just outside the school's boundary based on the review committee's recommendations. When trustees voted 5-3 to change the existing boundary for Courtney and the other parents, sending their children to St. Joan of Arc, Courtney countered, "I live closer than anybody else," and stormed out. Later in the meeting, Oakville trustee Paul Marai attempted to put forth a motion that would allow JK-Grade 6 pupils being directed to St. Joan of Arc, like Courtney's daughter, to be allowed to stay at Pope John Paul II under a grandfathering clause. Marai's motion was not seconded by any other trustee so the idea died on the floor. Trustees also debated whether to let 41 Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 students, currently at Pope John Paul II, remain. However, they would not receive busing. Board chair Alice Anne LeMay had to break a tie vote with the resolution losing 5-4 and those students now bound for Mother Teresa. For those students who will be changing schools based on the new boundaries, a board administrator said help is always available. "We as senior staff, along with principals, work on transition for students. We are very sensitive to that whole transition and what supports we can offer to those students," said education superintendent Toni Pinelli. "Right now there are unknowns for the children (being moved). Once a new principal is named (at West Oak Trails No. 5) and they talk to the (school) community, there will be excitement for the new school," said Tessari. The 12 resolutions adopted from the West Oak Trails No. 5 boundary review will be available on the Halton Catholic school board's website at www. hcdsb.org. 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