SECORD STUDENTS EXCLUDED FROM WINTERBURN SCHOOL

SECORD STUDENTS EXCLUDED FROM WINTERBURN SCHOOL
S.O.S – SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS

KNOW THE ISSUE

The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) is proposing to remove Secord from Winterburn School’s attendance area and re-designate Secord students to another school
Winterburn School is currently over capacity by over 100 students
The EPSB will make their decision in February 2014 and the changes set forth will be effective September 2014. Therefore, we need to take immediate action, and we need an immediate solution, we simply cannot wait for new schools to be built

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

Children living in Secord would not be able to attend Winterburn School
Children, including Kindergarten students, would have to be bussed (30 to 60 minutes) to another school
Property values will go down in Secord immediately.
The EPSB’s decision would apply to Secord students currently enrolled at Winterburn School as well as future students from Secord

GET INFORMED – know the facts

· EPSB has proposed three options, two of which remove Secord from the attendance area– see attached hand out

· Overcrowding is concentrated to the Division 1 students (K-Grade 3)

· Why is EPSB targeting Secord?

o Development in Secord is only 29% complete; the other communities in the Winterburn School attendance area are 80-100% complete. Growth in Secord will continue to place the most pressure on the school. It should be noted that the first four phases, including the areas closes to the school, are substantially completed.

o Demographics for Secord show a high number of 0-4 year old children

o Only 83 students from Secord are currently enrolled at Winterburn School so a change now will affect the fewest families (in the short term) compared to other communities

· For more information visit

o The ESPB’s “Space for our Students” webpage https://sites.google.com/a/epsb.ca/acc-test/winterburn-school

o The Secord Community League website www.secordcommunityleague.com

o “Like” the Secord Community League’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/secordcommunityleague

o Constantine Kastrinos – EPSD – Edm West Planning 780-429-8007 or Constantine.kastrinos@epsb.ca

OUR OBJECTIVE and PROPOSITION

OBJECTIVE: For the currently developed phases 1 – 4B of Secord to remain designated to Winterburn School

We propose to revise option #3 to include the following:

Close Winterburn School attendance area boundaries;
Remove Out of District students;
Re-direct entire Junior High including Grade 7 students (regular program);
Deactivate the Junior High Logos program;
Adjust the Winterburn School boundary to include phases 1 to 4B of Secord in the attendance area; subsequent phases would be re-designated elsewhere; and
Keep the Elementary Logos program

RATIONALE:

Re-directing all junior high students, rather than only Grade 8 and 9, will provide several benefits including:
Re-directing approximately 140 students, and opening six classrooms, which solves the immediate overcrowding problem;
Focusing the school on Elementary education for which it was originally designed;
Offering Junior High students better opportunities; Winterburn School does not offer elective courses provided elsewhere;
Bussing independent, capable Junior High students, rather than the younger demographic of Secord; and
Integrating a natural transition point for Junior High students.
Adjusting the Winterburn School boundary to include phases 1 to 4B of Secord’s development will:
Address concerns regarding the capacity pressure that Secord’s development imposes;
Ensure currently enrolled Elementary students can remain at their school;
Give Secord a presence in Winterburn School, and potentially, the opportunity for the boundaries to be opened up to the entire community at a later date
Be more compliant with the EPSB Accommodation Policy point number 3 with respect to considering walking distance to school in determination of school catchment.

TAKE ACTION

SURVEY: Take the EPSB survey at https://sites.google.com/a/epsb.ca/acc-test/winterburn-school. Complete the survey for every child and adult in your home.
PETITION: Sign our petition – door to door circulation is beginning December 18th, 2013
Please take less than a minute to sign the online petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/secord-to-remain-designated-to-winterburn-school.html
EMAIL: Send our community letter to the below email addresses daily.
ATTEND: EPSD Consultation Meeting, January 7th, 2014, 6-8pm, Jasper Place High School
Spread the word, inform your neighbours, contact anyone you know that can help!

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Below is our community letter which can be copied and pasted. Please send the letter daily to the list of MLA’s and ESPB officials noted below the letter.

To Whom it May Concern:

Winterburn School (in the NorthWest section of Edmonton) is facing serious overcapacity issues and the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) is looking at options to deal with this issue. To date EPSB has proposed three options. Two out of the three options include re-designating the Secord neighborhood from the Winterburn School attendance area. Secord is located directly across the street from Winterburn School.

As concerned residents, we feel that re-designating the Secord community is not the answer to this issue. We are one of the closest communities to the school and feel it is a very important part of our community. We strongly support our local school and want it to remain accessible to our residents and children. Losing access to our school means that we lose the natural tie that bonds the families in our community, it means our students can no longer walk 5 minutes to their school but now must be bussed to a school farther away. For several members of our community, it means that we can no longer benefit from a school that was a strong factor in making our decision to move to Secord.

As such, we propose to revise option #3 of the EPSBs initiatives to include the following:

Close Winterburn School attendance area boundaries;
Remove out of District students;
Re-direct entire Junior High including Grade 7 students (regular program);
Re-directing approximately 140 students, and opening six classrooms solves the immediate overcrowding problem;
Focusing the school on Elementary education for which it was originally designed;
Offering Junior High students better opportunities. Winterburn School does not offer elective courses provided elsewhere.
Bussing independent, capable Junior High students, rather than the younger demographic of Secord; and
Integrating a natural transition point for Junior High students.
Deactivate the Junior High Logos program;
Adjust the Winterburn School boundary to include phases 1 through 4B of Secord in the attendance area; subsequent phases would be re-designated elsewhere; and
Address concerns regarding the capacity pressure that Secord’s development imposes;
Ensure currently enrolled Elementary students can remain at their school;
Give Secord a presence in Winterburn School, and potentially, the opportunity for the boundaries to be opened up to the entire community at a later date
To be more compliant with EPSB Accommodation Policy number 3 allowing the children who can reasonably walk to school within the attendance area
Keep the Elementary Logos program.

We understand that the EPSB faces some tough decisions in re-designating students in an environment where there are just not enough schools in the Edmonton suburban area overall. We also acknowledge the tremendous budgetary constraints that are simply out of the EPSB’s control. We feel that our proposal both deals with the immediate over capacity issues that Winterburn School faces as well as the future capacity concerns.

We thank you for your consideration and hope that you will support the Secord community in our efforts to keep our local school.

Sincerely,

_______________________________

Trustee Orville Chubb is our Ward C trustee but it was suggested that we CC all of the trustees on the Edmonton Public School Board.

Ward A Trustee Cheryl Johner   Email: Cheryl.Johner@epsb.ca
Ward B Trustee Michelle Draper   Email: Michelle.Draper@epsb.ca
*Ward C Trustee Orville Chubb     Email: Orville.Chubb@epsb.ca 780-429-8085
Ward D Trustee Ray Martin     Email: Ray.Martin@epsb.ca
Ward E Trustee Ken Gibson    Email: Ken.Gibson@epsb.ca
Ward F Trustee Michael Janz     Email: Michael.Janz@epsb.ca
Ward G Trustee Sarah Hoffman     Email: Sarah.Hoffman@epsb.ca
Ward H Trustee Nathan Ip     Email: Nathan.Ip@epsb.ca
Ward I Trustee Cherry Adams    Email: Sherry.Adams@epsb.ca
Minister of Education- Honourable Jeff Johnson Email: athabasca.sturgeon.redwater@assembly.ab.ca
*Our MLA Dr. Raj Sherman   Email: edmonton.meadowlark@assembly.ab.ca   780-427.2292
David Eggen– MLA Edm Calder Email: Edmonton.calder@assembly.ab.ca
Janice Sarich – MLA Edm Decore Email: Edmonton.decore@assembly.ab.ca
Gene Zwozdesky– MLA Mill Creek Email: edmonton.millcreek@assembly.ab.ca
Alison Redford – Premier Email: calgary.elbow@assembly.ab.ca
Darrel Robertson – Superintendent Edm Schools Email: Darrel.robertson@epsb.ca
Diana Bolan – Assistant Superintendent Edm Schools Email: Diana.bolan@epsb.ca
Mark Liguori – Assistant Superintendent Edm Schools Email: mark.liguori@epsb.ca
Kathy Muhlethaler – Assistant Superintendent Edm Schools Email: Kathy.muhlethaler@epsb.ca
Ron MacNeil – Assistant Superintendent Edm Schools Email: ron.macneil@epsb.ca
David Fraser – Executive Director Corporate Services Email: david.fraser@ebsp.ca
Sandra Stoddard – Director, Governance & Strategic Development Email: Sandra.stoddard@epsb.ca
Nancy Petersen – Partnerships and Community Engagement Email: nancy.petersen@epsb.ca
Constantine Kastrinos – Edmonton West Planning Edm Public Email: Constantine.kastrinos@epsb.ca