EDMONTON – Global News sat down with Darrel Robertson, superintendent of Edmonton Public Schools, Managing Director Lorne Parker, and Chair of the Edmonton Public School Board, Sarah Hoffman, to discuss the unprecedented growth the district is seeing and how it plans to manage it.
“Unprecedented growth” and enrolment challenges:
“In the past three years, we’ve had an increase of over 6,600 students,” explained Robertson.
There are roughly 87,000 children in the Edmonton Public School system.
That is the area where Edmonton Public Schools is feeling the pinch the hardest.
“Obviously, we’ve requested new schools in our Capital Plan, and over the past number of years, we’ve actually built nine schools outside the Henday, but it just simply isn’t enough,” explained Robertson.
“There’s not enough space in those nine schools, and even with the two that have been announced and will be built for 2016 – assuming there’s no complications with construction and so on – we still will not have enough space to accommodate all the children.”
“When you build a new school and you designate neighbourhoods to those schools, they aren’t full at the time when the school opens,” added Parker. “But we’ve had unprecedented growth… We haven’t seen this level of growth at this pace before in the city. But we did have a plan for it; we still plan for more schools, but it’s just these schools aren’t keeping up with the growth.”
School officials want to hear from parents and other stakeholders as they debate how to manage the growth pressures in these areas.
They’ve set up an online survey for people to provide feedback on possible options, and will continue to meet with parents through open houses.
“We’ve outlined some options for communities to consider, as a conversation starter. There are no decisions that have been made in terms of exactly what we’re going for next year. We want some parent input and there might be some additional ideas.”
By end of January, Robertson says a decision will have to be made on how to accommodate all children outside the Henday in the public school system, “including the use of, obviously, our new schools out there, and using some schools that are a little bit further into the city, that have some space in them.”
“At the end of the day, this will involve transporting some children into schools that are a little bit further into the city where we have space.”
What are some potential options?
“We’ve looked at four sectors of the city that we’re dealing with in terms of growth accommodation right now. It’s the first step in our infrastructure strategy. The next step is going to be looking at our mature neighbourhoods in the core of the city where we have excess space,” said Robertson.
School officials acknowledge that busing children to schools outside their original attendance boundary would require additional transportation services.
“We recognize and appreciate that we will have to have a very solid, comprehensive transportation strategy to go along with this to help accommodate families.”
In its last Capital Plan, Edmonton Public Schools requested 14 new schools, and the province has agreed to fund two so far.
“I think it comes back to looking at the challenges ahead of us, talking with folks, and making some decisions around some of the resources that we have and how we might be able to use them differently… again, the best solution is new schools.”
“People are nervous about change,” added Hoffman, “but we know that the status quo won’t work in these situations. Parents have told us for the last few years in a lot of these schools, that they knew this was coming and they want to have some predictability for the years ahead.”
Robertson stresses the public input phase is an important one.
“We haven’t arrived at any decisions yet.”
Could EPS share resources with Edmonton Catholic?
“One of the greatest challenges is that the areas where we’re having the most significant space challenges, they are too,” said Hoffman. “Where we have the greatest pressures is where they have the greatest pressures, so that’s unfortunate.”
However, EPS is looking at other ways cooperation could benefit both districts.
“The administration for Edmonton Public and for Edmonton Catholic has been working together on a potential joint transportation plan.”
Still, transporting students remains a challenge.
“Transportation is always a concern in the city of Edmonton,” said Parker. “We live in a grid locked city.”
“We do have some concerns about transportation of our kids in regards to ride times… and we take those seriously. I think the bigger picture is we are responsible for the transportation of over 24,000 students a day.”
If a solution to growth pressures involves busing students to schools that are further away, students could spend more time in transit.
“We believe… and are confident that we will be able to offer safe, reliable transportation. Will they be longer ride times? Yes, than what they would be currently, because we’d be moving them farther away.”
Working with the province
Edmonton Public Schools asked for funding for 14 new schools in its last Capital Plan, and received funding for two.
“We’re definitely happy to have the two that we do,” said Hoffman. “We need more.”
“We value working with both the city and the province. We’re doing our best.”
“My role is to take the resources that we’re given on a yearly basis and do the very best we can for kids, and that’ll be my role next year, and hopefully the year after that,” added Robertson.
Hoffman said parents have been aware of the overcrowding issues for some time, and some have decided to contact their MLA with their concerns about how it’s being handled.
“Parents who have expressed that they’re doing that, that’s their absolute right. They also have the right to come to their locally elected school board trustee and for us to advocate on their behalf as well.”
“We’re all doing the best – in terms of Edmonton Public – of delivering everything we can with the resources we do have,” said Hoffman, who added she tries to be very up front with parents about what is in Edmonton Public’s control, and what is not.
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