Bedford Grade 6 students to go to different school next year due to overcrowding

Overcrowding problems with Halifax area schools is forcing some incoming students to have to switch schools in the new school year.

Incoming Grade 6 students to Basinview Drive Community School in Bedford, N.S., will have to go to Rocky Lake Junior High next school year.

According to an announcement about the changes by the organization sent out on Thursday by the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE), more than half of the 27 classes at Basinview exceed provincial class guidelines.

“This wasn’t a surprise,” Allison Garber, a member of the school’s School Advisory Council, said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This wasn't a surprise," Allison Garber, a member of the school's School Advisory Council, said.

As the neighbourhood grew population-wise, so did the number of families with students.

On Monday, the provincial government announced new and renovated schools, including one in the area — a welcome but confusing move for Garber.

“Why wasn’t something done earlier? Why wasn’t a school announced two to three years ago?” she said.

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The school has 676 students this year, and an extra 75 students are expected next year. Even more could attend in 2019.

Rocky Lake is about a 10-minute drive away with light traffic.

“My daughter, who’s now in Grade 5, who will be going to Rocky Lake in the fall, has been at Basinview since primary,” said parent Kate MacDonald.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My daughter, who's now in Grade 5, who will be going to Rocky Lake in the fall, has been at Basinview since primary," said parent Kate MacDonald.

READ MORE: Bedford parents concerned over condition of portable classrooms

Garber, who has a child attending the school, said she sees the decision to send the kids to Rocky Lake as a necessary evil, but she is disappointed it wasn’t announced months prior.

The council held a town hall last November to discuss overcrowding problems, and a list of potential solutions by the HRCE (formerly the Halifax Regional School Board) was provided in February.

One of her concerns is for students “who have unique needs, such as children on the autism spectrum. This is going to be a tough change for them, something that usually would be communicated with them well in advance of this.”

READ MORE: ‘We can’t keep up’: Bedford parents calling for action to remedy overcrowded school

Doug Hadley, a spokesperson for the HRCE, said the organization wanted to wait until the long-term plan for a new school in the area was announced before committing with the change.

“It’ll minimize impact on the community because it will not mean any more than the regular number of transitions for students, so they’ll transition from elementary to junior high to high school within the schools that they would already attend,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It'll minimize impact on the community because it will not mean any more than the regular number of transitions for students, so they'll transition from elementary to junior high to high school within the schools that they would already attend," he said.

A committee made up of members from both schools will help with the transition, he added.