EDMONTON – Two days after discussing the idea of changing the attendance requirements for Victoria School with the community, the school board has dropped the proposed changes.
During the Jan. 23 public meeting, community members heard that high school students who live near Victoria School of the Arts might have to meet new entrance requirements that could include an audition.
On Wednesday evening, community members raised concerns that those changes would force high school students living in some of the city’s most distressed, low-income communities to travel to class by city bus or get rides from parents because they wouldn’t be allowed to attend a school that many can see from their front doors. It appears the meeting made a difference.
“We had the proposal put forward and we took it to the community,” said Dr. Lorne Parker with Edmonton Public Schools. “And we went to one community meeting and we had several parents and members of the community provide feedback to the Superintendent, and the Superintendent has considered that feedback.
On Friday, the Edmonton Public School Board revealed proposed boundary changes for Victoria School of the Arts would not proceed.
Dale Wilcox, who has three children at the school, wasn’t worried about the proposal.
“I think they wanted to keep the school very specialized, and you can do that but still have mainstream kids in the school. I don’t think that they’re going to be shorted anything.”
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Some were concerned, though, about what the change could have meant for transportation reasons.
“Kids have so much to worry about at that age anyways, don’t make it hard for them to travel to school everyday,” said Cory Balaneck, father to a grade-ten student at Victoria School.
The board says the decision was made based on feedback from the community. It adds high school students living in Victoria School’s current attendance boundary will continue to be designated to the school.
Victoria School, a K-12 school at 102 Street and 108 Avenue, is the designated school for high school students in 14 nearby neighbourhoods. Therefore, students in those neighbourhoods get a spot at the school because they live in the attendance area.
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