Core School Transition Plan Detailed at Public Meeting

A good crowd attended an informational meeting on the Chinook School Division's transition plan for Swift Current's core schools Monday night at the Irwin School Gym.

The meeting allowed parents to get information on the plans for students, transportation, staffing and facilities after the opening of Ecole Centennial School this fall, and the closure of Ashley Park School next year.

"I would say this was our first opportunity to come out to the community, and really start to speak about details moving forward," said Liam Choo-Foo, Director of Education. "One of the things of hearing in our consultations with people was that they were tired of hearing about that there were going to be changes to the facilities in Swift Current. They wanted to know what are they, and what is the plan for where my child will go to school over the next few years.

Liam Choo-Foo talks with reporters following Monday's meeting

"Our biggest challenge is to get the message out to our community around what the options are over the next two years in terms of being able to receive transportation to a school, and then, what's going to happen at the end of those two years, so that parents can make informed decisions around where they choose to send their kids," he added.

One of the key points of the meeting was the outlining of the new catchment areas for the city's K-8 schools. The catchment area for Ecole Centennial School will be the area north of the Trans-Canada Highway, the area for Fairview School will make up all of the southside, and all French immersion students will be transported to Centennial regardless of where they live in the city.

The catchment area for the K-8 Irwin School will be an area generally east of Swift Current Creek and east of a line along 4th Ave NE between South Service Road and Yates Street, and the school will also receive all rural students that are bused into Swift Current.

In addition, the catchment area for Central School will be extended in the core area.

"Central is going to lose almost half of their population to Ecole Centennial, because they currently reside north of Highway 1," Choo-Foo said. "To try and balance out the number of kids at Central School, the board has extended the Central transportation area out beyond where it normally is, so it now follows the creek."

Parents in the newly extended portion of the Central catchment area will have the choice of sending their children to either Central or Irwin School in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years. Starting in 2016-17, parents in that area wishing to keep their students at Irwin School will have to provide their own transportation.

The meeting also touched on a number of facility changes at Irwin and Central Schools to accommodate the K-8 configuration. Central will also receive renovations to improve accessibility, and Irwin will also see a new School Bus loading and unloading area for rural buses along 11th Ave NE.

The transition plan will be made available on the Chinook School Division's website, and a letter detailing information specific to individual families will be sent home to parents today.