Duchess Park to go catchment only next year

As of next year, Duchess Park Secondary will only be open to students in its catchment area.

School District 57 is taking action to address ongoing capacity issues at Duchess Park Secondary.

“One of the options was looking at Edgewood students and moving them to Kelly Road. We will not have to do that now and we were able to accomplish that by saying, ‘No more out of catchment students.’”

The policy will be in effect for the 2017-2018 school year and will only affect new enrolments.

“It’s basically following District policies to the letter. By stopping out of catchment students going to Duchess Park, it allows us to accommodate all of the French immersion students and all of the students in the area.”

The other option was to reassign Edgewood Elementary to Kelly Road Secondary’s catchment but consultation with district principals and feedback from parents and the public nixed the idea.

“As always, there will be some accommodations for siblings but the catchment area students come first. We will follow all policies in that regard. The catchment area students are secure. The siblings will have to go through a process.”

The decision was made as part of the district’s long range facility plan. In Mackenzie, as part of the plan, the principals of Morfee Elementary and Mackenzie Secondary will consult with their students, staff and parents about the possibility of adding the community’s Gr. 7 students to Mackenzie Secondary as early as next year.

However, the district has decided to forgo closing McBride Centennial Elementary and sending its students to McBride Secondary until the combined number of students at both schools drops below 150. That is likely 4 or 5 years down the road.