Residents were invited to comment on how to address overcrowding at Waterford Public School at a virtual public meeting this week attended by more than 100 participants.
The Grand Erie District School Board agreed in July to boundary reviews for the Waterford area, which includes Bloomsburg, Boston, Delhi, Teeterville and Waterford elementary schools and Waterford District High School.
The board conducts boundary reviews to look at the attendance area for a school or a group of schools due to changes in student enrolment, program demands, new school construction or other factors. School closures can’t be considered under a boundary review.
Robust residential development in Waterford has Waterford Public School bursting at the seams. The school has capacity for 285 students but currently has 403. There are seven laptops in use.
The school population is expected to continue to grow, with a projected enrollment of 547 students by 2032.
Two requests by the school board to the Ministry of Education for a six-classroom addition to Waterford Public, at an estimated cost of $3.2 million, were rejected.
Nathan Hercanuck, Grand Erie’s planning supervisor, said the ministry determined there was sufficient surplus space at area schools to accommodate the overflow at Waterford Public.
Hercanuck said forecasts show “half the schools have stable enrollment moving forward (Bloomsburg, Boston, Teeterville), while others have a deficit over time.”
“The projections look like we have surplus space,” said Hercanuck. “But there isn’t one location that seems to have enough surplus space to take all the overage from Waterford Public.”
Projections show Delhi Public growing modestly from its current student population of 376 to 443 by 2032, and Waterford District High School growing from the current 368 students to 420 over the next 10 years.
Projections also show that by 2032, four schools will still be under-capacity – Bloomsburg (64 per cent), Boston (78 per cent), Teeterville (74 per cent), and Waterford High (69 per cent).
There are two accommodation options currently being considered:
- Excess Waterford Public School enrollment be moved to Waterford District High School, with some combination of junior/intermediate grades established (Grades 6, 7, and 8, for example).
- Excess Waterford Public School students be bused to Bloomsburg, Teeterville and Boston schools.
Superintendent of education Wayne Baker, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting, said other options could be considered.
A boundary review committee, comprised of school board staff, trustees, and principals and school council representatives of the identified schools, will give recommendations, with input from the public, to the board of trustees. The board will make the final decision about any changes in the review area.
“Trustees have an ear to what the community is saying,” said Baker.
That was echoed by Norfolk County trustee Don Werden who said he “wants to know what the community wants.”
Hercanuck said the earliest any changes could take effect would be September 2023.
Baker addressed some parents’ concerns about moving younger students into a high school with older kids, which could lead to “bad habits being passed on.”
“It would be two separate schools, in essence, in one building,” said Baker. “A school-within-a-school.”
One parent at Tuesday’s meeting wondered if moving younger students into Waterford High would prompt students in Grades 9 to 12 to transfer to other high schools.
“We are losing so many students at Waterford District High School to neighboring high schools,” said other parent. “The courses and options have drastically declined (at WDHS) in the last couple of years. C’est dommage.”
Other meeting participants said they wanted more information on how boundaries could be potentially re-drawn, and voiced concern that current Waterford Public students may opt to transfer to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the Catholic elementary school in Waterford, rather than be bused to public elementary schools outside the community.
Another virtual public meeting will be held on Dec. 6 at 5 pm