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I think it was at capacity when it opened. Or even over.
It's problematic in that the school board (and rightfully so) doesn't want to build these massive schools, but there's also not the money for lots of schools. So what gives?
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It's my understanding that school boards tend to build schools so that they're initially over-capacity as the demographics of areas served by new schools tend to skew younger. This means that they will become more right-sized in time as the population ages.
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They also prioritize avoiding busing, which leads to schools being built in sparse suburbs, which can fail to see enough turnover as to keep consistent close-proximity student bodies. My parents, as one example, have lived within 800m of a suburban school I attended, but for decades now they've contributed no students to it, nor have any of the other families on our crescent alone. Haven't we been talking about school closures in the region as well? We really need to make sure we aren't pushing schools to wasteful locations that won't easily keep themselves filled.
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I think it's been about 10 years since school closures were discussed.
I'd guess that conversation still starts and finishes in Galt. There's no need for 3 schools in Galt alone. Sorry Southwood, you'd lose this one.
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I think the boundaries need addressed before new buildings are built
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(02-08-2019, 08:57 PM)Spokes Wrote: I think it's been about 10 years since school closures were discussed.
I'd guess that conversation still starts and finishes in Galt. There's no need for 3 schools in Galt alone. Sorry Southwood, you'd lose this one.
Not including the Catholic High Schools.
Cambridge was royally pissed with Huron Heights was created. How did it make sense that K-W, at one point, had 7 public high schools to Cambridges 5? SMH...
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From the same article quoted above, this part jumped out at me. Penny wise, pound foolish?:
Quote:The public board built Huron Heights small, giving it almost 20 per cent less floor space per student than nearby public high schools.
I also happened to attend an overcrowded high school several portables and a double lunch period and I turned out okay. The high school in question also has seen an ebb and flow in population as the catchment area changed. I expect that the same will happen here too.
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(02-09-2019, 01:48 AM)jeffster Wrote: (02-08-2019, 08:57 PM)Spokes Wrote: I think it's been about 10 years since school closures were discussed.
I'd guess that conversation still starts and finishes in Galt. There's no need for 3 schools in Galt alone. Sorry Southwood, you'd lose this one.
Not including the Catholic High Schools.
Cambridge was royally pissed with Huron Heights was created. How did it make sense that K-W, at one point, had 7 public high schools to Cambridges 5? SMH...
Why was Cambridge mad? Because it pulled south Kitchener students from Preston?
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(02-09-2019, 02:00 PM)Spokes Wrote: (02-09-2019, 01:48 AM)jeffster Wrote: Not including the Catholic High Schools.
Cambridge was royally pissed with Huron Heights was created. How did it make sense that K-W, at one point, had 7 public high schools to Cambridges 5? SMH...
Why was Cambridge mad? Because it pulled south Kitchener students from Preston?
That..
But also because they didn't want the number of HS's closed. They wanted 5 regardless. During that time, they said, fine, keep your schools, and kid in Kitchener in this area and that area will go to Preston. Fast forward a couple years, parents demand changes to the craziness of the kids being driven under the 401 to get to school, so I think it all changed then.'
BTW; Kitchener is getting another HS....
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Kitchener has to.
But the boundaries also need redrawn BADLY
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Say goodbye to the plan for a new Kitchener High School:
As classes swell, board scraps $32M bid for new Kitchener high school
Quote:As the average class grows to 28 students from 22, schools need fewer classrooms. This has persuaded the board to walk away from its $32-million request to add another school.
https://www.therecord.com/news-story/960...gh-school/
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Oof. Giving in to Fordian austerity, not what I wanted to see.
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I think it's more that given his rules on class sizes there are now fewer demands for classrooms despite growing numbers of students
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Yeah, they have no business case for a new school with these thresholds. With 22 students per class it was easy math: We have x students and y classrooms. x/y > 22, therefore we need a new school. Now x/y < 22, so this case has evaporated. Should the threshold be reduced in the future I imagine the request will be dusted off and brought forward again.
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