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Proposed elementary school boundaries draw criticism

School board inviting input from parents The Howe Sound School Board has released five possible options for the boundary between Myrtle Philip elementary and the new elementary school in Spring Creek, now due to open in the fall of 2003.

School board inviting input from parents

The Howe Sound School Board has released five possible options for the boundary between Myrtle Philip elementary and the new elementary school in Spring Creek, now due to open in the fall of 2003.

The options were revealed at a meeting packed with parents and residents Tuesday night at Whistler Secondary.

Many of the parents living north of the village voiced concerns about how their kids were going to get to the new school if an option was chosen which placed their homes in the catchment area for the new school at Spring Creek, just north of Function Junction.

"To have us come from one end of the community to the other is ridiculous," said Carmen Laslett, who lives in Emerald.

"To ask our young children to sit on a bus for that length time is ridiculous."

Laslett?s Grade 1 daughter Madalyn currently gets on the bus at 7:55 a.m. and gets to Myrtle Philip school at 8:25 a.m.

And Laslett is also concerned that a move to Spring Creek will end her daughter?s access to after-school programs at the community centre in Myrtle Philip.

"For me it would be totally ludicrous to have her go to the new school and then travel to the community programs," said Laslett.

"She would never be able to be involved in any of those programs because I would not be able to get to them as I work until 5 or 6 p.m.

"My beef with this community is that they don?t take into consideration working parents."

There was some suggestion at the meeting that kids from the north end of Whistler might be bussed along Westside Road. Many parents voiced concerns about safety on that road, especially as school buses still don?t come equipped with seatbelts.

A survey conducted a couple of years ago showed that 50 per cent of kids are driven to school. Safety was one reason parents don?t put their kids on buses.

The options were also chosen with environmental issues in mind said board chair Amy Shoup.

But, said Laslett, enrolling kids form the north end of town in the new school would put more cars on the road.

The five options were roughly described as follows:

Option 1

: Everything south of Blueberry, including Brio, Alta Vista, and Westside Road, would go to the new school. That would place 152 Grade 1-7 students in the new school, with 18 in the kindergarten. Myrtle Philip would have 315 students in Grades 1-7 and 45 in the kindergarten.

Option 2

: The village, the Benchlands, White Gold, and Spruce Grove would go to the new school along with everything south of Blueberry.

The new school would have 213 students in Grades 1?7 and 30 in kindergarten. Myrtle Philip would have 254 in Grades 1-7 and 33 in kindergarten.

Option 3

: South of Blueberry, the village, Alpine Meadows, Nicklaus North, and Emerald would go to the new school. White Gold and Spruce Grove would go to Myrtle Philip. The new school would have 295 in Grades 1-7 and 33 students in kindergarten. Myrtle Philip would have 172 in Grades 1-7 and 30 in kindergarten.

Option 4

: The new school would get kids from south of Blueberry plus Nicklaus North, Alpine Meadows, and Emerald. But Brio, Alta Vista, the village, Spruce Grove, White Gold, and the Benchlands would go to Myrtle Philip. Enrolment at the new school would be 282 in Grades 1-7 and 33 in kindergarten. Myrtle Philip would have 185 in Grades 1-7 and 30 in kindergarten.

Option 5

: The same as option 4 except Emerald and Alta Vista would go to Myrtle Philip and Brio would go to the new school. Enrolment at the new school would be 236 in Grades 1-7 and 25 in kindergarten. Myrtle Philip would have 231 students in Grades 1-7 and 38 in kindergarten.

Students attending the Francophone school will be kept together but it has yet to be determined which school they will be placed in. Overall enrolment will determine where they are located.

Grade 7 students will also return to elementary school ? they are currently at Whistler Secondary ? so Grade 8s can finally come in from the cold. The Grade 8 students have been in portables for some time.

Long-time resident, parent of three, and real estate agent Michael d?Artois questioned whether any of the options took into consideration the growth that is likely at the south end of Whistler in the next few years, starting with the Spring Creek development, which will include some family housing units.

"We?ve pretty well developed out now in Whistler and the only potential for development, which has to be taken into consideration when they are making these decisions, is that there will be much more development south of Alta Vista.

"And not withstanding Spring Creek there is more development that hasn?t yet hit the table, that is going to hit us big time, especially if 2003 announces that we are going to get the Olympics.

"There will be land made available for development between Black Tusk and Function Junction in the future and that has to be taken into consideration.

"I think Myrtle Philip may have to live with an over-enrolment for two or three years until the dust settles on where populations are going to go."

Board Chair Amy Shoup said the boundaries "are not set in stone" and encouraged those at the meeting and others who are interested to submit their comments or plans to the School Board office before Dec. 31.

The board, which has final authority over the decision, is likely to announce the boundary at their February 2002 meeting.

Information about the options will be available at the school board, and administrators at Myrtle Philip plan to send outlines of the boundaries home with students as soon as they are available.

Meanwhile the teachers? job action has resulted in the cancellation of the Christmas concert at Myrtle Philip.

"It is disappointing of course because it has been a tradition in the school," said principal Bob Daly.

"But we will just have to work around it. There will be classroom activities and they will take all sorts of different forms.

"And we do have the school-wide writing day coming up on Friday, Dec. 7. This is the afternoon where children?s parents come in with them and write letters to Santa."