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King George JK-8 FI Boundary Revew offers two distinct options

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release
October 12, 2012

GUELPH, Ontario — The King George JK-8 FI Boundary Review has come forward with two distinct options to resolve projected overcrowding in the French Immersion (FI) program at Victory PS. The scenario preferred by staff will move FI grades 4 to 6 from Victory to King George. An alternative scenario for consideration by trustees involves a boundary change that will shrink Victory’s JK-6 FI attendance area.

The King George boundary review was launched in June, tasked with setting the new school’s attendance area as of September 2014.

One of the key goals for the review is to relieve capacity issues at Victory PS, where strong growth in the FI program and the introduction of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) is expected to push enrolment to about 100 students over the school’s capacity by 2014.

The staff preferred scenario in Report #2, released today on the Board’s website, proposes to move entire grades of FI students. Starting in 2014 FI grades 4 to 6 would move from Victory to King George, where they would remain through to grade 8. In this scenario Victory would be left with about 85 JK-6 regular track students, and approximately 205 JK-3 FI students, nearly matching the building capacity of 294.

An alternative scenario would see a change to the geographic boundary of the JK-6 FI program at Victory PS, with JK-5 students living north of Division and Clarence streets reassigned to King George in 2014 (JK-6 in 2015). In this scenario students entering their final year at Victory in 2014 (i.e. grade 6) may be grandparented. Approximately 180 JK-6 FI students would remain at Victory, drawing from a new FI attendance area bounded by Clarence and Division streets, Edinburgh and London roads, and the Speed River. Changes to the attendance areas for regular track students were not considered, as the focus of the review is on the FI program only.

Both scenarios propose that the grade 7 and 8 FI program at King George will take students from Victory PS, Edward Johnson PS and King George PS. Students in these grades are currently “holding” at John McCrae PS. Students entering grade 8 in 2014 will be grandparented at John McCrae, which means King George will offer JK-7 FI in that year, and JK-8 the following year.

“The Staff Committee discussed at length the benefits and drawbacks of the two shortlisted scenarios and determined that either scenario will create a viable JK-8 FI program at King George PS,” states the report.

The nod to Scenario 1 (moving grades from Victory) as the preferred option was based on a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two scenarios. The advantages of Scenario 1 included:

The key advantage to Scenario 2 (changing the FI boundary) is that siblings directed to King George would remain together.

The King George boundary review is one in a series of reviews that must be completed prior to the final implementation of FDK in 2014. A boundary review can be triggered by fluctuations in enrolment or the construction of a new school, but is more limited in scope than an accommodation review. The Central Guelph FI Accommodation Review (2010) examined some of the same issues, but took nearly two years to wrap up.

The King George JK-8 FI Boundary Review Report #2 will be presented to the Business Operations Committee on October 16, and to a Public Information Session on October 23 from 7 to 9 p.m. at King George PS. An advance copy is available on the Board’s website:

www.ugdsb.ca/kgbr

The boundary review’s web page also includes a form to submit comments, and an opportunity to subscribe to email alerts.

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For more information:

Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]

Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]

 

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