School District 61 cancels catchment review open house Wednesday

School District 61 cancels catchment review open house Wednesday
CHEK

Parents offered their thoughts on proposed catchment boundary changes at the Greater Victoria School District's first open house Feb. 6. The second open house scheduled for tonight has been cancelled.

Parents offered their thoughts on proposed catchment boundary changes at the Greater Victoria School District’s first open house Feb. 6. The second open house scheduled for tonight has been cancelled.

The weather has not only closed classes for the third straight day in School District 61, but it is also having an impact on catchment boundary input from families.

The Greater Victoria School District (GVSD) said the second of three open houses on proposed school catchments is cancelled Wednesday night because of school closures, which began Monday from snow and icy roads in the region.

Wednesday’s meeting was to take place at Lansdowne Middle School at 6:30 p.m. and the school district says it will advise the public when a new date is set.

A third meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday morning, starting at 8:30 a.m. at Victoria High.

The open houses are for School District 61 to get feedback from parents and community members on proposed new catchment boundaries for September 2020.

The district said in a release two weeks ago it “is proposing new school boundaries due to increasing enrolment and limited space in some of its schools”, adding it has been nearly 20 years since school catchments were reviewed.

The first open house took place Feb. 6 and dozens of people packed into the Spectrum Secondary School gymnasium to learn more about the plan and voice concerns.

Many were parents from South Park Family School and Cloverdale Elementary, defined as ‘schools of choice’ that parents can send their children to, even if they don’t live in the neighbourhood.

But due to growing enrollment and a shortage of classroom space, the GVSD wants to turn the schools into regular catchment schools and parents aren’t happy.

Parent advisory councils at Cloverdale Elementary and South Park are fighting the change and plan to submit a written proposal to SD 61 on other solutions to the boundary issue.

CHEK NewsCHEK News

Recent Stories

Send us your news tips and videos!