The New Westminster school board has approved a boundary change that will see the western edge of the Richard McBride Elementary School catchment moved to F.W. Howay.
Trustees made the change to better balance enrolment at the city’s two east-end elementary schools. Richard McBride, in Sapperton, has a current enrolment of 419 students and sits at about 90% capacity – a number that’s only projected to grow. Howay, in Massey Victory Heights, has been struggling to keep enrolment up and has been operating at about 70% capacity, with 117 students.
With the change adopted by school board trustees on Jan. 26, the school district will take a chunk of the current McBride catchment – the area bounded by McBride Boulevard, East Eighth Avenue, Cumberland Street and Blackberry Drive – and shift it to Howay.
The vote followed consultation with both school communities, including virtual meetings and a chance for families to give feedback online.
The catchment change will be officially implemented on March 12, 2021, after the registration window closes for the 2021/22 school year.
The boundary shift will not affect any currently enrolled students or the younger siblings of currently enrolled students, unless those families want to change schools.
Superintendent Karim Hachlaf noted that, if there are families in the affected area who still want their young children to attend McBride in the future, those families can put in an out-of-catchment application for McBride.
For those families worried about child care with the shift to Howay, the school district has worked with the Westminster Children’s After-School Society – which provides before- and after-school care for New Westminster’s elementary schools – to create additional spaces at Howay.
The school district estimates the plan will see McBride’s enrolment decline to about 403 students by 2034, while Howay’s will increase to 150 in the same time frame.
The district also considered two other options: one switching the northeast corner of the McBride catchment to Howay, and the other changing the boundaries of the current Herbert Spencer Elementary School catchment to send more students to Howay.
Neither of those alternatives, however, were found to meet the district’s goals for projected enrolment.
Trustees voted almost unanimously in favour of the plan, with trustee Mary Lalji the lone dissenting vote.
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