LaVérendrye: Nothing Left to Lose: Survey Options

Showing posts with label Survey Options. Show all posts

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Option Review: Switch Schools

This would see all Earl Grey and LaVérendrye students switch buildings at the beginning of the 2016/17 school year.

École LaVérendrye and Earl Grey students switch schools in 2016/17 school year. Details include the following:

Relocate all Nursery to grade 6 Earl Grey students to École LaVérendrye.

Relocate all Nursery to grade 6 École LaVérendrye students to Earl Grey.

Relocate grades 7 and 8 students from Earl Grey to other schools (e.g., Grant Park, River Heights, or Churchill) in 2016/17.

Other schools in the Division not affected.

While this solution involves major changes to the Earl Grey school community, it is the best solution for the larger community.

Provides the greatest certainty of immediate (and long-term) relief of the capacity issues at LaVérendrye. Both Sir William Osler and Robert H. Smith options would take years to reduce LaVérendrye's enrollment, and may trigger enrollment issues of their own.
Disrupts the fewest students. 20-30 Junior High students at Earl Grey would need to move to other schools two years sooner than otherwise, and some child care programming would need to be adjusted at both schools and the Earl Grey Community Centre, but 95% of students at both schools would stay with their classmates. Compare with the Robert H. Smith option, where at least 155 students would be dispersed to other schools.
Is cost-effective, involving about $300,000 in renovations to each school to prepare it for the switch. Other options involve costly band-aids such as more modular classrooms, throw-away renovations such as separate French amenities to be used for a single year, and expensive building renovations such as a new gymnasium.
Maintains existing transportation arrangements. Parents who currently walk their children to either school can continue to do so, since the schools are only 6 blocks apart.
Maintains and expands a successful program with a proven track record. Establishing a new program elsewhere may take some time to reach the same level of maturity that LaVérendrye's program already has.
Lays the groundwork for further expanding the program to offer grades 7 & 8 in a milieu setting, relieving impending pressures on École River Heights as the influx of students currently enrolled at LaVérendrye graduate and seek Junior High education in their neighborhood.

There are some important challenges that need to be addressed, such as in-school child care and transportation of students from the school to child care and other programming offered at the Earl Grey Community Centre. These challenges are not insurmountable, and should be able to be resolved given a rational, informed discussion between the parties involved. Several ideas have already been floated by both Winnipeg School Division officials and members of LaVérendrye's parent community. If these consultations are done properly, a solution should be possible which not only maintains access to these critical services, but strengthens the larger community by making Community Centre programming more easily available to students from both schools.

However, Winnipeg School Division has proposed that this switch happen when the new LaVérendrye gymnasium is complete in 2016. This will require yet more program loss at LaVérendrye, as the computer lab is turned into a classroom and 25 child care spaces are lost. Further, the gymnasium was originally promised for 2015, and a tender has yet to be issued for construction. There is no guarantee that it will be complete by 2016.

LaVérendrye's students cannot afford more program losses, nor can they wait until the gymnasium is completed at some point in the future. A school switch in 2015 is what the children of LaVérendrye need.

Option Review: Transition Schools

This would see students from Earl Grey and LaVérendrye switch buildings, staged over a period of two years.

Transition École LaVérendrye students to Earl Grey over two years. Details include the following:

In 2015/16 relocate grade 4 to 6 École LaVérendrye students to Earl Grey.

In 2016/17 relocate all Nursery to grade 3 École LaVérendrye students to Earl Grey and relocate all Nursery to grade 6 Earl Grey students to École LaVérendrye.

In 2016/17 relocate grades 7 and 8 students from Earl Grey to other schools (e.g., Grant Park, River Heights, or Churchill).

Other schools in the Division not affected.

This shares most of the benefits and drawbacks of the single-year switch. It does raise some serious additional concerns, though.

Younger LaVérendrye students would lose the opportunity to be mentored and coached by older students in programs such as Reading Buddies (and older students would lose the valuable experience of being mentors) for a very critical year in their academic lives.
Families with siblings straddling the two schools will need to adjust to separate drop-off times, child care, and related issues.
Establishing a milieu setting within the English Earl Grey school would require outfitting Earl Grey with several French amenities, including library, administrative staff, washrooms, and PA system, which would have limited to no use after the transition year.
Segregating students from each other in the same school runs the risk of making one or both student groups feel ostracized and, in the worst case, breed conflict between the groups.
Winnipeg School Division has indicated they did not want to complete the swap until LaVérendrye's new gymnasium is complete. Given the delays so far in that project, there is no guarantee that the gym will be complete as planned in 2016, stretching the transitional period over multiple years, further amplifying the impacts noted above.

While switching schools is the best option to address both LaVérendrye's immediate concerns and long-term demographic trends in Winnipeg School Division, trying to "smooth" the process by stretching it over two years will be counter-productive and involve more disruption and cost than necessary.

Option Review: Sir William Osler Milieu

This would reduce LaVérendrye's catchment area and establish a new milieu program at Sir William Osler, which is currently being used for adult education programming.

École LaVérendrye's Milieu program continues but its catchment area is made smaller by adding a new Milieu program to Sir William Osler. The changes outlined below would be phased in over several years. Details include the following:

École LaVérendrye student population would be reduced by making the catchment area for the school smaller.

A new Milieu program would be established at Sir William Osler (currently a host to various education programs) to account for those students attending (or who would attend) École LaVérendrye, but now fall outside of the catchment area. Students already enrolled in École LaVérendrye and their younger siblings could remain at École LaVérendrye for the duration of their Nursery to grade 6 schooling.

Most programs at Sir William Osler would be relocated to other facilities within the Division.

Programs and students at Robert H. Smith and Earl Grey School would be unaffected.

Like the option involving Robert H. Smith, if this were proposed and implemented years ago, when enrollment concerns were first raised, it may have been a viable solution, and would have avoided the urgency we're faced with today. At this point, it does nothing to address the immediate capacity concerns at LaVérendrye.

It will take years for LaVérendrye's enrollment to be reduced to acceptable levels, since existing students and siblings will be grandfathered, if they wish.
Sir William Osler is a small building, with a stated capacity of 200 (not factoring in ancillary programs like child care, music, and art). There is a real possibility that neighborhood families who would have otherwise enrolled in the dual track program at J.B. Mitchell will take advantage of having a milieu program in walking distance, and enroll at Sir William Osler instead, filling the new program to capacity in very short order.
Winnipeg School Division has indicated that a new catchment division line would likely be drawn at Stafford Ave, meaning that families living as close as two blocks from LaVérendrye would need to be bused to Sir William Osler instead of walking to their neighborhood school.
Even though existing LaVérendrye families will be grandfathered, they may not be able to retain their existing bus service, since they will now be considered out-of-catchment. This may force some LaVérendrye students to leave relationships they've forged over the years at LaVérendrye.
Sir William Osler has not been used for school-age children for years, and requires many upgrades to conform to current standards, including a new gymnasium ($4 million), playground facilities, and other interior renovations.

This solution will force several LaVérendrye families to leave their school community behind, will take years for the catchment change to reduce enrollment to acceptable levels, and will likely result in similar capacity issues at Sir William Osler in a few years.

We need a solution that is viable for the long term, and provides immediate relief for LaVérendrye's critical overcrowding.

Option Review: Robert H. Smith Milieu

This would reduce LaVérendrye's catchment area and establish a new milieu program at Robert H. Smith, discontinuing the dual-track program currently running there.

École LaVérendrye's Milieu program continues but its catchment area is made smaller by adding a new Milieu program to Robert H. Smith. The changes outlined below would be phased in over several years. Details include the following:

École LaVérendrye student population would be reduced by making the catchment area for the school smaller.

A Milieu program would replace the Dual Track French immersion program at Robert H. Smith to account for those students attending (or who would attend) École LaVérendrye, but now fall outside of the catchment area. Students already enrolled in École LaVérendrye and their younger siblings could remain at École LaVérendrye for the duration of their Nursery to grade 6 schooling.

Students in the English program at Robert H. Smith would be relocated to other schools (e.g., Grosvenor, Queenston, Brock Corydon).

Students in the Dual Track French Immersion program at Robert H. Smith could choose to switch to the Milieu French Immersion program. If they choose to continue with the Dual Track French Immersion program, they would be relocated to one of the other Dual Track French Immersion schools (J.B. Mitchell or Riverview).

Students attending Earl Grey School would be unaffected.

If this were proposed years ago, it may have been a viable solution and would have avoided the urgency we're faced with today. But it does nothing to address the immediate capacity concerns of LaVérendrye.

It will take years for LaVérendrye's enrollment to be reduced following a catchment change, since existing students and siblings will be able to continue at LaVérendrye if they wish.
At least 155 students in Robert H. Smith's English program will be uprooted from their school community and dispersed to other schools. The remaining 316 students in the French program will be affected by the dismantling of their school community.
Dual track immersion programs at Robert H. Smith and J.B. Mitchell have been experiencing their own capacity issues in recent years. There's a real possibility that Robert H. Smith families wishing to keep the dual track experience may need to have their children bused 6 km away to Riverview instead of walking to either of two schools in their neighborhood.
Most LaVérendrye students live within a few blocks of the school. In order for the catchment change to have any realistic impact, Winnipeg School Division has indicated that the new dividing line will need to be drawn at Stafford Ave... only two blocks from LaVérendrye. This means that families just west of Stafford will need to bus their children to Robert H. Smith instead of walking to the school they can see from their front yards.
Even though Winnipeg School Division indicates that LaVérendrye families living in the new catchment area will be able to continue attending LaVérendrye, they have also indicated that bus service may no longer be available because they will now be considered out-of-catchment. This may force some LaVérendrye families to uproot their children from relationships they've forged over the years, and try to fit into a new school.

This solution is unnecessarily disruptive to the nearly 500 students who attend Robert H. Smith today, will force several LaVérendrye families to leave their school community behind, and will take years for the catchment change to reduce enrollment.

LaVérendrye students need a solution now for the 2015/16 school year.

Option Review: École LaVérendrye Milieu

This is, simply put, maintaining the status quo.

No additional milieu school added. Students at École LaVérendrye, Earl Grey, and Robert H. Smith would remain in their current school. Details include the following:

enrollment at École LaVérendrye would be limited to catchment area students, meaning all out of catchment students not currently enrolled at École LaVérendrye would need to register elsewhere. Younger siblings of existing non-catchment students would be accepted.

In addition to limiting enrollment at the school, the Division would explore a variety of solutions for accommodating future growth including:

expanding computer technology capability throughout the school and converting the existing computer lab into a classroom;

pursuing with the Province, the possibility of providing another permanent addition of 3 or 4 classrooms;

pursuing with the Province, the possibility of retaining the existing modular classroom unit and adding a second modular classroom unit.

This is not a solution:

Out-of-catchment enrollment has already been restricted at LaVérendrye, and enrollment is still increasing. Based on the latest projections made available by Winnipeg School Division, 44 Nursery students will be starting in September 2015, replacing 32 Grade 6 students who will have graduated in June.
Pursuing construction of additional permanent classrooms from the Province carries no guarantees. The Province has been historically reluctant to fund additional classrooms when there is space available elsewhere.
Modular classrooms are not viable for long-term usage. They pose logistical challenges to students and staff, since weather-appropriate outerwear is needed whenever students or staff need to use facilities in the main building (washrooms, gymnasium, library, etc).

Construction delays add additional risk to this plan:

The existing modular classroom was intended to be open for the beginning of the 2014/15 school year, but was not ready for occupancy until 3 weeks into the year, further disrupting the education of the students assigned to that room.
A new gymnasium, promised for the beginning of the 2015 school year, and intended to make two additional classrooms available to accommodate the Province's K-3 classroom size initiative, has been delayed until at least the fall of 2016... tenders for construction have not been issued yet, so even that date is not certain.

This plan contains no assurances that either enrollment growth will be brought under control, nor that additional space will be forthcoming to accommodate current and projected student populations. It relies on negotiating with the Public Schools Finance Board for construction funds, which will take years to materialize into usable classrooms.

LaVérendrye's students need a solution now.