Watch above: It appears some parents have been caught cheating when it comes to their children’s education. It has to do with new restrictions in place for some city schools bursting at the seams. Vinesh Pratap reports.
EDMONTON — Some Edmonton parents are trying to find a work around when it comes to getting their children in a school close to home. They’re submitting addresses not related to their actual residence.
“I’ve heard about that. We never had to because we were on the other side. But we never had to do that,” says mother Crystal Cadieux, dropping off her child at a south Edmonton school Friday morning.
“We’ve had some examples in some parts of the city where there have been multiple students listed for one address,” Lorne Parker with Edmonton Public Schools says. “So, of course that raises the flag.”
Michael Strembitsky School is one of 10 within Edmonton Public which has a closed attendance area. The school has with around 900 students this school year.
“We were just almost about to get cut off. But luckily for us, we registered the kids in the school before,” indicates father Emmanuel Aggreel.
Last school year, the board introduced changes as a way to alleviate pressures on schools in high growth communities. The facilities impacted are located in newer residential areas outside the Henday. Parents who can’t send their children to their community school are designated to schools several kilometres away.
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“This is not a widespread problem. The vast majority of our parents are abiding by the regulations,” says Parker. “We have a very diligent process for checking records.”
READ MORE: Edmonton public will shrink attendance boundaries to handle growth
Parents Global News spoke with are sympathetic to the plight some families in their community are dealing with.
“I would come to the school and try and plea and see if they would get me to come in here. But other than that, a rule is a rule, a law is a law. We got to live by the rules and regulations, right?,” says Aggreel.
As in most suburban communities, the growth continues, leading to potential longer term impacts.
“The only solution is the building of more schools,” says Parker. “And until that occurs, we will continue to feel these pressures.”
Official numbers aren’t in yet, but Edmonton Public expects an enrolment of more than 89,000 students this school year. That’s compared to 86,554 in 2013 and 83,272 in 2012.
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