School boundary review
Posted Dec 8, 2010 03:45:40 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board is hosting an open house today to provide information on boundary options for a couple of Cambridge schools.
The board has been grappling with an overcrowded Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School, which has 640 students — nearly double the government-rated capacity of 325. The school is using 12 portables to accommodate all the kids.
“When we review the boundaries, more often than not, we’re trying to balance the enrolment between the schools,” explains Board senior manager Dave Bennett. “In this particular case, we have one school that is significantly overcrowded and we’re looking for solutions to that problem.”
The other school being reviewed is St. Elizabeth. Both schools are in the Hespeler area of the city.
Bennett describes the open house as an informal meeting that will provide information and allow parents and other members of the community to chat with board staff. There will be display boards but no formal presentations.
Bennett also says closing a school is not on the agenda but the board is interested in finding solutions to the overcrowding problem at Our Lady of Fatima. Busing is one option that will be discussed and there’s also the potential for a new school to be built.
“We have hopes to build a new school in the community (on Guelph Avenue) so we will look at future boundaries for what that new school could look like and take into consideration what the overall accommodation would be if there were three schools in that area instead of two,” Bennett says.
The board initiated the review in September and today’s open house provides the public its first opportunity to see what options are available.
The open house from run from 4-8 PM at Our Lady of Fatima school on Hammet Drive.
