King George P.S. boundaries set for September 2014
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
December 19, 2012
CORRECTIONS (Dec. 20, 2012) — The story below states “at present there is a bus that stops at Victory and carries on to King George.” In fact, the bus that stops at Victory does not continue on to King George at the present time, but it is expected to in 2014. Also, decisions on courtesy busing are made in late October, not late September as stated in the story.
King George P.S. boundaries set for September 2014
GUELPH, Ontario — The French Immersion attendance areas for King George Public School in Guelph have been set for September 2014.
At the board meeting on December 18 trustees voted to adopt Scenario 1 of the King George JK-8 FI Boundary Review, exercising an implementation option that will allow Grade 4 FI to remain at Victory PS subject an annual review of that school’s capacity.
Trustees engaged in a lengthy debate following a delegation from Victory PS parent Wendy Bauman, who asked trustees to consider changes to the implementation plan around busing, annual monitoring of Victory’s capacity and long-term accommodation planning.
The safety of the walking route proposed by the Wellington Dufferin Student Transportation Consortium was challenged by Bauman, who showed trustees pictures of a group walk from Victory to King George.
Trustees were informed by staff that Victory parents can submit individual requests for “courtesy busing”, which is available if two criteria are met:
- There is a pre-existing bus route.
- There are empty seats on the bus.
Superintendent of Finance Janice Wright told trustees that at present there is a bus that stops at Victory and carries on to King George, and “if applications were made today” there would be enough room on the bus to take all of Victory’s Grade 5 and 6 FI students. However, she said that decisions are made in late September based on the routes and space available at that time. Trustees passed a motion that directed the staff at Victory PS to inform parents (in 2014) about how to apply for courtesy busing, and also about the process for delegating to the board if the courtesy busing solution is not successful.
Following further discussion, motions were defeated that would see Grades 4-6 FI remain at Victory subject to annual review, and for Victory to become “a priority planning initiative” in 2014 once the board’s implementation of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) is complete.
The board’s Planning Department work plan calls for it to return to District-wide long-term accommodation planning in 2014, and while trustees balked at pre-determining that the needs of the Victory community should be a priority, they did pass an amendment that directs staff to review the assignment of Grade 4-6 FI from Victory “during the Long Term Accommodation process.”
The boundary review also created a new Grade 7/8 FI attendance area for King George, with JK-6 Victory PS and Edward Johnson PS becoming feeder schools. In 2014-2015 King George will be JK to Grade 7 only, with Grade 8 students in the attendance area grandparented at John McCrae PS. In 2015-2016 King George will be JK-8 FI.
The boundary review was launched in June, with the goal of creating a JK-8 FI attendance area for King George PS, and also to relieve projected overcrowding at Victory PS due to FDK and growth in the FI program.
All documents related to the review are available on the Board’s website:
www.ugdsb.ca/kgbr
For more information:
Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]
Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]
Categories: Media Releases