Vaudreuil parents rally over Lester B. Pearson zoning changes

Vaudreuil parents say they will continue to fight a school zoning change under the Lester B. Pearson School Board after a meeting was held Wednesday night.

• Vaudreuil parents scramble after Pearson school board makes zoning change

Under a new zoning change, students from at least 50 families would be transferredto Mount Pleasant Elementary School in Hudson,about 18 kilometres away.

Many parents arguethat is too far and that it forces parents like Jane Peclarto look for alternatives outsideof the English-language education system.

"We will have to go to the French school board just to have schools that are closer to our house," Peclar said.

The decision to change the zoning at Pierre Elliott Trudeau schoolwas due to overcrowding at the Vaudreuil school, school board officials said.

"The government will never give us funding to expand the school or pay for a new school ifthere's other places within a 20-kilometreradius," said Suanne Stein Day, the head of the school board.

The families affected are those livingnorth of Highway 40 in Vaudreuil, a zone the school board calls "Area 57."

The changes are due to gointo effect next September.

Parents hope that their show of solidarity will inspire a change of heart at an upcomingschool board meeting on Jan. 25.