Frustrated parents of students and future students at Elgin Street Public School have started a petition to reverse a decision by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) to move the junior and senior kindergarten classes to Centennial Public School.
The decision resulted in “a lot of chaos,” according to Miriam Padolsky, a mother whose son is currently in preschool and is set to begin kindergarten at Elgin Street Public School this September.
The board has been considering changes since November due to overcrowding at Elgin Street Public School. On Monday, a motion was put forward to move the kindergarteners and it was passed the following day.
The hasty decision caught Padolsky and many other parents off guard.
“There was no time between the motion and the vote…not enough time at all,” says Padolsky.
The Board of Trustees had been contemplating a few options to deal with the overcrowding at Elgin Street Public School.
“We had to choose between moving the kindergarteners or the English students and we decided to move the kindergarteners to keep Elgin Street a dual track (English and French) school,” says Shawn Menard the trustee for zone nine, which is the Rideau-Vanier zone and has families who attend Elgin Street Public School.
The decision to move the kindergarten classes is also a temporary one, according to Erica Braunovan, the trustee for zone 10 – Somerset/Kitchissippi – which includes Elgin Street Public School and Centennial Public School.
“A broader accommodation review that will include looking at more schools will take place in three to five years,” says Braunovan.
The more permanent decision that will result from the review will also include moving the kindergarten classes back to Elgin Street Public School, says Braunovan. In the meantime, a decision had to be made to alleviate the overcapacity. Braunovan says it is simply easier to move the two kindergarten classes than the whole English program.
However some parents, like Padolsky, were under the impression the two options were to either move the English students or to change the boundaries to reduce the overcrowding.
“We never thought moving kindergarten was an option…it wasn’t part of the discussion,” she says.
“Moving the kindergarten classes was only ever mentioned in passing,” Padolsky added, “It’s very upsetting that they have put the burden on the youngest children.”
The petition, which began as soon as parents caught wind of the decision, received almost 60 signatures within the first 24 hours.
However, reversing the decision depends not on the number of signatures gained, but rather a majority of trustees need to vote in favour of reconsideration.
According to Shirley Seward, the Chair of the Board, there are no current plans to have another look at the decision.
“We would need to see some new information come forward in order to reconsider our position.”
The petition can be found at: https://elginparents.wufoo.com/forms/m12rtwtj16nvj00/