ocdsb releases proposals for boundaries, programs at six elementary schools
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parents and children protest the ocdsb program review in march 2025. the review was scrapped last october.
tony caldwell
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postmedia
ottawa’s largest school board has released a plan to balance enrolment and introduce new programs at six elementary schools in the west-central part of the city.
the proposals will affect churchill alternative, hilson avenue, broadview avenue, fisher park/summit alternative, elmdale and woodroffe avenue. the goal of the proposals is to “ensure long-term stability for the entire west-central area,” said the ottawa-carleton district school board.
under the proposal released may 6, no schools will be closed. students currently in senior kindergarten through grade 8 at the six affected schools will not be forced to move and will have a “no one leaves” option to stay in their current school and program until they graduate.
younger siblings will be able to stay at the same school as older siblings, providing there is the appropriate grade and program for the younger sibling — as long as the younger sibling is in junior kindergarten by september 2027, when the proposed implementation begins.
the phase-in will be gradual. new programs will begin with junior and senior kindergarten, and would continue to add one grade per year.
“this ‘slow-growth’ model reduces the need for current students to move between schools.,” said the ocdsb. at the year of implementation, all senior kindergarten students will be provided with a one-time option to remain at their current school.
none of the proposals is cast in stone, karyn ostafichuk, general manager of planning, told parents and community members who got their first chance to ask questions at a public meeting in the broadview gym on may 6. members of the community have until may 13 to comment.
a previous effort to introduce sweeping elementary program boundary changes for the entire ocdsb was scrapped last october by provincially-appointed supervisor bob plamondon after it sparked controversy. those changes would have seen an estimated 11,000 students changing schools starting in september 2026 and would have been “highly disruptive,” plamondon said at the time.
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“the one thing we learned through all of this this is that there’s oftentimes things we haven’t thought of,” ostafichuk told parents. “please bring them forward.”
at issue: alternative programs and middle french immersion programs at some of the schools are being phased out. at the same time, some of the schools are at or very near capacity, while others have low enrolment. phasing out the alternative program at churchill will eventually empty out the school, while phasing out middle french immersion at hilson will result in a significant reduction in enrolment.
as of 2027, churchill is projected to be at 41.1 per cent capacity, for example, hilson at 70.1 per cent, fisher park at 74.1 per cent, woodroffe avenue is at 94 per cent cent and broadview is at 102.5 per cent.
the ocdsb wants to make the best use of each school, said ostafichuk.
“we want to create boundaries that are reasonable, hopefully boundaries that are easy to interpret. they’re stable over time and they consider the capacity and flexibility of the sites,” she said. “and we’d like programs that are robust, or could be robust over time.”
here’s a look at how the proposals would affect each of the six schools:
- there will be no changes to the current english and early french immersion programs at broadview avenue public school. however, boundaries will be realigned. to minimize disruption and student movement, the existing boundaries will be phased out gradually at one grade per year, with the exception of junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten being phased simultaneously in 2027.students who begin senior kindergarten in september 2027 (in junior kindergarten in 2026) will be given a one-time option to remain at their current school, or to register at their newly-designated school. for the 2027–2028 school year, a sibling provision will be offered for incoming junior kindergarten students with older siblings already attending the school. these incoming students will be permitted to enrol at the same school as their older siblings.
proposed attendance boundaries, junior kindergarten to grade 6 english with core french.
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- under the proposal, churchill alternative school will host an early french immersion program starting in september 2027. this program will be phased in by one grade per year, with the exception of junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten being phased in simultaneously in 2027 to ensure the grade 1 cohort at churchill alternative school in 2028 has a program to enter into.
the existing alternative attendance boundary will be retired gradually to avoid affected students currently enrolled in the program. at the same time, the early french immersion program will be phased in.
for the 2027–2028 school year, a “sibling provision” will be offered for incoming junior kindergarten students with older siblings already attending churchill. these incoming students will be permitted to enrol at the
same school as their older siblings. - the attendance boundary for junior kindergarten to grade 6 early french immersion will be realigned at elmdale public school. the existing boundaries will be phased out gradually at one grade per year, with the exception of junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten being phased in simultaneously in 2027. students who begin senior kindergarten in september 2027 (those who are currently in junior kindergarten) will be given a one-time option to remain at their current school, or to register at their newly-designated school.
there will be no changes to the current programming. early french immersion will continue to be offered.
for the 2027–2028 school year, a “sibling provision” will be offered for incoming junior kindergarten students with older siblings already attending the school. these incoming students will be permitted to enrol at the same school as their older siblings.
proposed attendance boundaries for four ocdsb elementary schools from junior kindergarten to grade 6 in the west end.
ocdsb
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handout
- attendance boundaries for grade 7-8 english and early french immersion will be realigned at fisher park/summit alternative public school. the existing boundaries will be phased out gradually at one grade per year starting in 2034, to align with the proposed junior kindergarten-6 boundary phase-in.
english and early french immersion will continue to be offered. the planned phase-out of the middle french immersion and alternative programs will remain on schedule. - hilson avenue public school is currently an english and middle french immersion school. under the proposal, the school will maintain its existing english program and will phase in an early french immersion program to become a dual-tracked english/early french immersion site. there will be minor adjustments to the current english boundary. students who begin senior kindergarten in september 2027 (those who are in currently in junior kindergarten) will be given a one-time option to remain at their current school, or to register at their newly designated school based on the proposed boundaries.
in establishing hilson’s early french immersion boundary, a smaller boundary was necessary to limit the impact to elmdale public school, said the ocdsb.
for the 2027–2028 school year, a “sibling provision “will be offered for incoming junior kindergarten students with older siblings already attending the school. these incoming students will be permitted to enrol at the same school as their
older siblings.
proposed attendance boundaries, grade 7 to 8 english program with core french for two west end schools.
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- there will be no changes to the program offerings at woodroffe avenue public school (option area only). the attendance boundary for grade 7-8 early french immersion will be realigned. the existing boundaries will be phased out gradually at one grade per year starting in 2034, to align with the proposed junior kindergarten to grade 6 boundary phase-in.
an online survey available on engage ocdsb from may 6 to may 13. once input from the community is reviewed, planning staff will prepare a recommendation report to be presented to plamondon.
there will be an opportunity to provide feedback online regarding the final recommendation in late may, said the ocdsb. a final decision is to be made in june 2026.
some parents say they’re still digesting the proposals after the upheaval of the controversial elementary program review that began in the spring of 2024. in the case of the new proposals, the devil is still in the details.
“i’m really glad they took the time to listen to parents and get a review done,” said laura mackenzie, who has a son in grade 8 at summit alternative.
she accepts that the alternative system is winding down. but she also has concerns about the student transfer policy for younger siblings who will not be in junior kindergarten as of 2027. (under the proposal, under those circumstances a family can apply to the school board for a cross-boundary transfer.)
“it’s very, very hard to actually get something approved through this transfer,” said mackenzie. “so it’s not really actually providing a mechanism for parents to enter many of these schools.”
mike vieira has one child currently at hilson avenue and another in preschool, also at hilson. with the boundary changes, if they want to attend french immersion, they will have to move to elmdale and get on the waiting list for before and -after-school care.
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“we made the decision based on the information. now it’s switched and it switched again,” said vieira. “there are so many things going on here.”
the constantly-shifting landscape has been frustrating, he said.
“i went to churchill, and then i came here (broadview) and it was super-simple,” he said. “i live a block away from where i grew up. it shouldn’t be that hard.”
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