Calgary parents frustrated by delays to high school boundaries public engagement

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has delayed its high school scenarios process yet again, leaving parents of junior high students waiting to find out where their child will attend high school.

Some of those parents say it's time for the school board to "pull the Band-Aid off," allowingfamilies to plan for the future.

Christopher Usih, chief superintendent of the CBE, said the purpose of this workwill determine the catchment areas for students entering high schoolin the 2022-2023 school year. The plan ismeantto deal with growing capacity issues faced by numerous high schools in the city.

• 'It's just not fair': Parents react to high school boundary changes in southwest Calgary

"Otherwise what will happen is we'll have situationswhere if a school is way above capacity, then we run into challenges around safety and even our ability to be able to provide effective programming because there are just too many students in that one building," he said.

"Youprobably heard in fall of last school year that one of our high schools, [Ernest Manning], was way overcapacity and we were really challenged from ahealth and safety standpoint."

Changing timelines

Documents posted on the CBE website in May 2019 said theoriginal timeline for the engagement process would see the scenarios finalizedand communicated between July and October 2021. In February 2020, the timeline was adjusted, pushing back the engagement and presentation of possible scenarios from March to June 2020, toSeptember toNovember last year.

However, that never happened, and in November, CBE parents were informed that the boardwould be sharing the high school scenarios with them this month. But in an email sent home last week, the CBE informed parents there would be yet another delay and that scenarios would be released andand engagement would take place betweenFeb. 23 and March 17.

Kelly Van Webber has a daughter in junior high who will be directly impacted by these decisions. The area their family lives in is currently designated for Ernest Manning, but these potentialboundary changes could see them designated to Central Memorial.

"The concerning part around that is when they redid the boundaries for [Ernest Manning High School] before, they basically said in November of that year, 'your kids are going to these schools,' and it was under a year to plan and families were thrown intochaos," he said.

COVID-19 to blame for delays

Usih said all of the delays to this process have been caused by COVID-19 and the challenges the school board has faced when it comes to school re-entry and online learning.

He said it's been an adjustment to switch to engaging families and staff online, as opposed to an in-person session.

Van Webber said he struggles to see how this work can be dragging on for more than a year-and-a-half.

"[The CBE] knows the numbers, so make a decision and let people plan," he said. "Pull the Band-Aid off already."

For his family, Van Webber said knowing which high school their daughter is designated to hasbig implications.

"We're going to see where our designated high school is and we've talked to different families and said, 'Hey, do we form some sort of carpool to go toBowness?' for example.A bit of a circuitous route to get there, but at least it's a shorter commute," he said.

"We've kicked around the idea of, do we move basically a kilometreaway to get on the other side of Old Banff Coach road to get into the catchment for Manning if we decide that's the best orthe appropriate school? Should move into the catchment area?So, going back and forth with that."

CBE confident parents will have time to plan

Usih said he appreciates and understands that families want their child to attend a school where there's strong and effective programming.

"And, if parents have concerns about programming or any aspect of the school there, we have processes in place for addressing those," he said. "ButI cannot emphasize enough the need to ensure that we have strong programming in every one of our schools."

Van Webber said the uncertainty of this process is beginning to weigh on students too.

"My daughter is in Grade 8 now, and she and her friends are starting to talk about it and, you know, you kind of want some certainty for them as they go into high school, especially with all the wackiness that COVID has caused," he said.

Usih said he knows the last year has been a difficult period for many.

"We want to make sure that we are we are doing our due diligence to communicate clearly and to provide opportunities for families to know what our plan is going forward," he said. "And I'm confident that, you know, the timelines that we've we've indicated will will satisfy that expectation."

Following the engagement in March,Usih said the scenarios are subject to change.

But, he said the CBE is committed to finalizing all scenarios for 2022-2023 by no later than December 2021.