The Kawartha Pine Ridge (KPR) District School Board has identified a significant overcrowding in some of their schools and it’s the public’s turn to address their solutions.
On the evening of April 17, parents and students were invited to Kenner Collegiate Vocational Insititute to explore the accommodation concepts the school board is pitching. In the meeting, they explained four potential solutions that, foremost, make adjustment to school attendance boundaries.
Parents showcased a lot of concern in the feedback sections of each of the proposed, with most families concerned about the potential divination this could mean for students. Jaine Klassen Jeninga – Chairperson of the Board, says she understands parents concerns and hopes they will stay involved during the rest of the year-long decision process.
The KPR District website contains more information about all four concepts, but the guiding principles for each remain the same: balancing student numbers between schools, providing high quality learning for all students, developing long-term and sustainable plans, maintaining walkable routes to school and streamlining transportation services. Klassen Jeninga says these concepts could change.
The Board Chair says they’ve had a lot of talk about portable classrooms, school extensions and new facilities that would inch overcrowded classrooms into new space within the same property, but ultimately they are at the mercy of the provincial government, she explains.
The process has moved to an online feedback gathering phase until the Resource Committee returns with what they’ve gathered in the early fall of 2024. A decision will be finalized by the Board of Trustees in December for a phased implementation in the 2025-2026 school year.
(Written by: Noah Lorusso)
