Proposed School Boundary Revisions

Changing the boundaries for new students living at Klahanie or the other complexes and homes that border McMath High where students walk to within minutes will necessitate taking transit or forcing parents to drop and pick up them up does not make sense !
R.Rkarnowski

This is much bigger than the RSB changing catchment boundaries. This is a direct result of poor city planning. There is a condo building spree going on in central Richmond and instead of adding better infrastructure to that area, the RSB is pushing into what already exists further south. This city has never had families in mind, just money. Despite adding townhouses, where there were once just single family homes, all along Williams rd, the RSB plans on closing one High school and one elementary school in this area. Mc Roberts is the most likely one on the chopping block. On one side South Arm Park will be renovated, on the other there is a community center. Mc Roberts is the perfect place for a shiny new residential development, and you get those park views too. Mark my words this was their plan all along. I encourage everyone to write BC's minister of education Robert Flemming, it was just in April that he said his government has no interest in closing schools.

I'm strongly opposed to the boundary change. It will double my children's travel time to school. The decision-making process should be made by parents, rather than a few school board members, half of whom do not even have kids attending school. The proposed transition period has to be longer than Sept 2020, so parents can adjust/move... Most of the parents do not even know about this proposed boundary change, and there has to be more time for discussion.

I strongly oppose the the McMath Secondary catchment proposal. We live west of Railway Ave. Instead of 9-min walk to McMath, our 2 kids will have to budget for close to 30-minute bus trip (walking, waiting, and traffic times) to Steveston-London Secondary. This is a terrible waste of time. I strongly believe the area west of Railway Ave and south of Steveston Hwy should still be going to McMath Secondary.

I am strongly opposed to the proposed catchment as this decision would affect my kids and other families living around McMath. In a lot of people's opinion, this is not a smart choice, in fact we can not understand why this is even a proposal. Our home is a 3 min walk away from McMath which is very convenient for my kids unlike Steveston London which they would have to use transit everyday. The distance to Steveston London would be more than 10 times the distance. This decision would be very costly for many families who live near McMath and it would also add stress to the students as they will not be able to go to school and come home easily. This is also a safety issue, as there may be accidents or traffic going a long way to school. From our house, my kids have to take only one path to get to McMath. I am very upset for the lack of understanding of this community. This proposal should not even exist, very disgusting. Many people are disappointed.

I am strongly opposed to the proposed catchment revision affecting my son and all the families who live around the McMath football field. It doesn’t make sense for my son to commute when he can just walk to school. I don’t understand why this was even considered as it defeats the purpose of “ minimizing street crossings” when Steveston London is not within walking distance. In addition, this will be an extra expense on our part and additional stress to the students. We are so close to McMath that we can literally hear the bell ring! Our children should be allowed to attend McMath and not Steveston London given the proximity of our residence.

I am fiercely opposed to the catchment revision from McMath to Steveston-London for the families living south of Steveston Hwy and west of Railway. Our homes and our community are centered around the greenway path that leads to the back door of McMath Secondary. By sending our children to Steveston-London, you are breaking up a core part of our community. Research shows that children's mental health is affected by attachment to supports and community. We need our children to be connected in the chaos of our modern world. This is an absolutely appalling proposal and will have a long-lasting impact on the well-being of our children.

I am disgusted at the lack of understanding of our community that this was even put forward by staff.

I am opposed to the proposed boundary changes. My back yard is sharing the fence with McMath field and is less than a 2 minute walk .When my son enters grade 8 this September he will be the primary care giver to his younger sibling and needs to be close by to meet her. The neighbouring homes with their yards basically on the school grounds should not be cut off from attending McMath.

PART 9: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: IMPACT ON THE LARGER COMMUNITY: Even if you don’t have kids, your kids go to private school or your kids will not be affected by this proposed change, the impact on one part of a community has a ripple effect on everyone in the community, which flows into society as a whole. Caring for one another in as many ways as possible just makes things better for everyone and your support on this issue for the affected children and families in your community is appreciated; I don’t even have kids and I’m feeling the stress of my friends and neighbors who will have to navigate this melee for their families and the impact on their lives. RSB, don’t do this and work with RCC and the mayor to find a better solution.

PART 8: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: SHIFTING RESPONSIBILTY: Those in power here know what the issues are and it comes down to really caring about the impact on families, better problem solving and money management, directing money into enlarging schools, hiring more teachers at those schools where there are more students, NOT an upheaval of neighborhoods and families. The school board and city are not talking enough about this and coming up with solutions, and the community is paying the price.

PART 7: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: LITIGATION: the school board potentially opening itself up to lawsuits going forward. For example: a child from Trimaran neighborhood was walking/biking to Steveston London or was being driven and there was an accident, parents might have justification to file a lawsuit. If that child had been going to McMath (2 min walk out back gate on a path) the accident would never have happened. Anything like this would be a sad circumstance. Further, if there were to be any successful lawsuit, that settlement money will come from city coffers, which are funded by Richmond Taxpayers.

PART 6: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: LIAISING WITH RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL AND MAYOR: in certain areas schools may be bursting therefore might seem to need boundary adjustments but overcrowding is a problem which rests with the school board and THE CITY OF RICHMOND to resolve, not dump the problem on to children and their families! Why isn’t the RICHMOND SCHOOL BOARD working with RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR? Have representatives from the Richmond School Board been making veto requests against proposed housing developments based on this issue at Richmond City Council meetings when there are developers wanting to densify in areas where schools are already, or will be, over-filled? Don’t pass the buck to parents and kids, find common ground and work together, city and board, remove the red tape and do what’s best for the families in this community.

PART 5: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: DIVISIVENESS: by implementing these changes the Richmond School Board is creating divisions in communities as not all children in complexes and neighborhoods will be going to the same schools and won’t be creating the same bonds and friendships. Childhood friends may find themselves living next door to each other but going to different schools because of a one year age difference. In today’s world community is more essential that ever. Good friendships and a school/neighborhood connection is essential to the mental health and well-being of children in their formative years. The impact on families and neighbors will be very detrimental.

PART 4: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including: FAIRNESS: with the proposed changes now because of a one year difference, some families with siblings who began at a nearby school in 2019 (or prior) would be allowed to continue, as well as their siblings (ex: Klahanie/McMath) while families in the same complex/neighborhood with a child beginning in 2020 would be sent to a school at a greater distance (as well as their siblings) increasing time, stress and costs for certain families but not others. These proposed changes are likely to have the most impact on those who are more vulnerable in our community: at-risk children and youth, higher needs students, lower income families, single parent families and other family types (ex. grandparent guardians, foster families, etc.)

PART 3: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including:
SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS: all students need consideration with this decision but changes like this will impact students with additional needs even more; whether the needs are learning, behavioral, physical, mental, emotional.
ENVIRONMENT: school board will be responsible increasing emissions contributing to climate emergency (which has been declared by Richmond City Council) by creating a completely unnecessary need for driving and bussing in many circumstances, like a middle finger to climate action.

PART 2: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including:
TIME: increasing commute time for children & parents (not just for school but any extra-curricular school activities), requiring parent time to walk with or drive, disrupting family schedules and possibly affecting parent work schedules. FINANCIAL: increased cost to families for gas $, bus fare, as well as municipal money spent for school board to make changes (probably already spent on ridiculous amount to plan, plus future admin costs for processing endless cross-catchment applications).

PART 1: I am opposed the proposed boundary changes for a variety of reasons including:
STRESS: parenting is very stressful to begin with, the school board is talking about now creating an additional major stressor for families (by way of many of the points mentioned in my multiple comments). School can be a very stressful place for children and the school board is risking the cause of further damage and stress to the mental health and overall well-being of children in the school system during an already fragile time.
PROXIMITY: it makes no sense to have children switch from a nearer school to a more distant one. For example: many of the co-op and townhouse communities surrounding McMath high school would go from walking to school with no major street crossings to upwards of needing to cross NINE major roads.

The feedback box has a limit of 1000 characters which is not enough space to include all my points so I will enter it in parts. SD38, why are you setting such a low character limit for such an important issue?

Dear SD38 School Board: The cutoff for feedback is November 15th and it says above the matter will be reviewed December 11th. That is less than a 4 week period. Is this really an adequate amount of time to read ALL comments, gather points, have multiple thoughtful discussions with all stakeholders on an issue that will have far reaching impact for years to come?

I think the board should remodel the school catchments with safety and ease of commute for the students as their top priority. Why would you make students walk 20 minutes to school when they could attend one that is a 5 minutes walk away. For example, we live on Baffin Drive which is minutes away from Burnett High , yet my kids have to trek for 20 minutes to attend Boyd instead. We are both working parents and do not have the liberty of driving our kids to school everyday. Please sincerely consider changing Baffin drive and nearby areas to be in the Burnett catchment.