news
Connected to your community
Trustee pushes to place Avalon fifth on school priorities list Continued from page 1
“I think we should treat every community fairly,” said Blackburn. Blackburn’s amended list would have pushed an Avalon II school down to the fifth spot on the eight-item list, behind a new Half Moon Bay School, a rebuild for Broadview Public School, an addition to West Carleton Secondary School and an addition to A.Y. Jackson Secondary School. Mark Fisher, a trustee whose area includes south Ottawa, said there’s little appetite for another look at the list. “This process is necessarily divisive,” he said, adding he’s looking forward to a new multiyear, capital priority planning process. The list the board approved puts Avalon in the top spot, with a new elementary school in Barrhaven coming in second. Ryan Knuth, the director of public relations for the Half Moon Bay Community Association, told the board that the community already boasts 3,263 homes and with planned developments would soon be double that. “Parent engagement and volunteering are much more likely if there is a community school,” he said. “We are a great community and with a public school we would thrive.” Chapman Mills Public School was opened in September to handle students from Farley Mowat and Barrhaven public schools. The board did an accommodation review in 2011 and redistributed students to ease crowding. At the time
Farley Mowat and Barrhaven public had 17 and 19 portables respectively. At a public meeting to explain the boundary changes to five local schools, Blackburn said new schools were essential. “We need the school in Chapman Mills, we need one in Half Moon Bay,” she said. The changes in boundaries saw boundaries would see 340 students redirected from Farley Mowat and 150 students from Barrhaven Public. “Every last option was looked at in Barrhaven, I just want to do the same for Orléans,” Blackburn said. Jennifer McKenzie, an Ottawa west trustee and board chair, said although there are growth pressures in the Avalon area, the overall enrollment in the Orléans area has declined by 300 students since 2009. Barrhaven’s student count has gone up by 772 during the same time period. “We could build a school every other year in Barrhaven and not keep up with demand,” she said. Orléans trustee John Shea said that Orleans boasts a population of more than 100,000 people and while there’s declining population on the north side of highway 174, there is a lot of growth to the south. “It’s quicker to drive to the city limits of Ottawa than to drive to the next closest school that has space,” he said. Peters agreed and said the widening of Trim Road to four lanes will only foster more development. Blackburn said Henry Lars-
en Public School on Sunview Drive was 100 students under capacity, but the board’s manager of planning Karen Carty Ostafichuk said it was more complicated than a simple shift of students. “With the class size cap on primary grades and the pressures of full-day kindergarten it may not work,” Ostafichuk said. The distance between the schools is five kilometres. Peters said while he recognizes that Barrhaven and Kanata are high growth areas, he has to come out and advocate for his community. “Unfortunately because of limited funding dollars it pits one part of the city against another,” he said. The board’s capital priorities list will be voted on at the next board meeting on Oct. 22. It will go to the Ministry of Education before the end of the month. The list
• New Avalon II elementary school at a cost of $13.65 million • New Half Moon Bay elementary school at a cost of $13.65 million • Broadview Avenue Public School rebuild $17.8 million • West Carleton Secondary School addition $6.4 million • New Findlay Creek Elementary School $13.65 million • New Stittsville Secondary School $36.1 million • A.Y. Jackson Secondary School addition $6.4 million • Viscount Alexander Public School Addition $2.43 million.
R0012348866
GO PAPERLESS! AND WE WILL
PLANT A TREE Hydro Ottawa’s E-Billing is convenient and secure.
SUPPORT LOCAL FORESTS Trees Ontario will plant the trees in the Ottawa area.
Sign up for E-Billing at hydroottawa.com/ebilling or call 613-738-6400.
hydroottawa.com/ebilling R0012348919-1010
Orléans News EMC - Thursday, October 10, 2013
7