Students are settling into their new classes at Powell River’s six elementary schools. South of town, Kelly Creek Community School is getting a boost.
Powell River school administrators form classes with the same procedure as other school districts around the province. On the first day of school, students go to their old classroom. Then the teachers do a head count and administrators form the new classes.
“We have a pretty good idea of the numbers of students that we will be getting,” said Scott Fisher, principal at Henderson Elementary School. “So there aren’t usually any surprises in the fall.”
However, unexpected students do register for school late in the summer or on the first day and the schools have to decide how to deal with them.
“If there are big changes in student numbers, then we change the classes,” said Jay Yule, superintendent of schools for School District 47.
The school district is currently hiring a teacher for a new grade four-five split class at Kelly Creek because more students have registered at the school than expected.
“We have lots of extra rooms there,” said Yule. “It’s a positive thing.”
“It’s nice to be able to go to the neighborhood school,” said Cathy Fisher, president of Powell River and District Teachers’ Association. “I would hate to see students turned away from a school because of a size cap.”
In Powell River, the deadline for school registration happens on March 31. “If people move after that deadline, then there could be a problem,” said Yule. “If students come to the school before the school year starts, then we can find a workable solution. But it gets more difficult if the student comes in the middle of the year.”
While there aren’t any school boundaries, and parents are free to register their children at the school they wish, schools still have catchment areas and the school district encourages parents to send their children to the school nearest their home. However, if parents wish to send their children to a school outside of the catchment area they live in, they need to register their child before March 31.
Students from outside the catchment area are permitted to register on a first-come first-served basis, said Yule.
If students were to move into a neighbourhood in the middle of the year and they registered for school, but there wasn’t a class that had room, Yule said, they would find a place for the child at the next nearest school.
“If we can’t get you in this year, next year you will get a spot,” said Yule. “Students who live in the catchment area of schools are registered for spaces before students from outside the catchment area.”
