Parents upset as OCDSB shares elementary school boundary plans

Some Ottawa parents say they're unhappy with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's (OCDSB) proposed changes to elementary school boundaries.

The English public school board put out its proposed boundary map on Friday. According to a board report, about 11,000 students would change schools in 2026 as a result, more than the usual 6,000 to 8,000 in a normal year.

"While the increased movement is not insignificant, the disruption needs to be balanced against the reasons why the changes are being proposed and the resulting benefits," the report says.

Michael Powell has two kids at Devonshire Community Public School, where he said they are currently thriving.

The OCDSB's proposed changes to its catchment areas would force both of them to go to schools further away and outside of their neighbourhood, he said.

• See the proposed changes by school here

"What is now, you know, one very healthy functioning school will get blown up into four different zones," Powell said.

"I don't look forward to telling my eight-year-old that in a couple of years she's not going to be in a class with any of her friends."

In January, the board announced it would propose significant changes to boundaries, grade configurations and program offerings across its elementary system in an effort to bring students back to schools in their own communities.

The plan would make transitions between grades and schools easier on students in the long run, said OCDSB director of education Pino Buffone.

"What we are doing is a one-time move that will allow that child to move along grade to grade, school to school with their cohort ... and not splitting up every time there's a change of school," he told CBC News.

The board hopes to even out enrolment among schools that are overpopulated or underpopulated, Buffone added — especially since there is a moratorium on closing public schools, even when they're underutilized.

"We've rebalanced the organization so that we've got healthy schools everywhere," he said.

'An unnatural transition'

Some parents said they're determined to keep their kids where they are.

Teacher Tara Doherty bought her house in Lowertown so her daughter could receive specific learning support at Rockcliffe Park Public School.

Doherty said switching schools is not an option.

"She's a child who is very anxious, and that's something that we get support on," Doherty said.

"An unnatural transition for her away from everything she knows, away from all of her close friends, will be extremely detrimental to her mental health."

Doherty also said she believed the OCDSB's proposal will lessen the diversity of students who go to the school.

"The only way you can access Rockcliffe Public is if you're an upper class, high-income family, basically," she said. "We feel like we're being segregated in a way."

Community meetings on the changes will be held in March. The board also plans to develop a transition plan in the fall.