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Enderby school plan evolves

North Okanagan-Shuswap School District continues to look at restructuring
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The future of education in the Enderby area continues to evolve.

The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District is still working on possible restructuring options that will be brought forward May 15.

“The district is facing significant classroom space and overall overcrowding challenges at M.V. Beattie,” said Mike McKay, trustee, in a newsletter.

“This issue is of high interest to the community and has elicited a great deal of input and a range of perspectives and suggestions.”

While the district had originally proposed four options for restructuring, including shifting Grade 6 and 7 students to A.L. Fortune Secondary, a hybrid concept has developed.

The hybird model includes:

• close out of catchment transfers to MVB immediately and for the foreseeable future;

• structure MVB as a kindergarten to Grade 6 school commencing Sept 2017;

• add one portable to MVB to accommodate the K-6 population and to retain essential non-classroom space for ancillary services and thereby decrease the overcrowding at the school until a long-term solution is in place;

• draft a local capital plan for an addition to MVB to address school capacity pressures as the community continues to grow;

• provide Grade 7 to Enderby area students by giving parents choice and by creating additional enrolling space at Grindrod Elementary and ALF;

• provide an express bus from Ashton Creek to Grindrod Elementary;

• address the community’s concerns regarding high risk teen behaviour at the high school level by assigning district resources to ALF to provide enhanced counselling and/or youth social worker time focused specifically on students in the middle years (Grades 7,8,9);

• registration preference for Grade 7 at either of the two local area schools (Grindrod, ALF) will be confirmed depending on space under the new class size and composition requirements.