Parents who want their kids to attend a school outside of their catchment area can apply beginning Feb. 6 in an online process that could result in hundreds of School District 43 students relocating from their neighbourhood schools.
It’s a spring rite of passage for parents who want their kids to attend certain schools because of sports teams, unique programs, proximity to child care or other reasons. And in some cases, the process, which takes until the week of March 6, when results are emailed to parents, can be stressful.
But efforts are being introduced to make the process more fair, said assistant superintendent Gerald Shong, who noted that 80% of cross-catchment requests are met, meaning the majority of families get their pick.
This year, a random draw will be held for schools where there are more cross catchment applications than spaces.
“The reason why we did that is we believe it’s more equitable access for families,” said Shong, who explained that last year, a date-stamp was used to determine the successful applicant in these cases.
Parents will find out via email between March 2 and 6, with those who are unsuccessful getting a spot in their neighbourhood school. But there is an appeal process, Shong said, for those who are dissatisfied with the results, although there is no guarantee the appeal will be successful.
If an appeal fails, a student will attend their neighbourhood school.
The process has been laid out in an online explainer but Shong said parents should note that applying for a spot doesn’t guarantee approval. In fact, some schools are already at capacity and can’t take out-of-catchment students.
“Be aware that the district can only approve cross-catchment applications up to the current and future available space in any given school and students within the catchment have priority for placement,” the district explainer notes.
Kindergarten students must be registered at their catchment school before beginning the cross-catchment process, and there are provisions for siblings, while registration for programs of choice, including French Immersion, is a separate process.
Shong said the district’s priorities are to place siblings together, followed by ensuring SD43 students get a spot and, finally, out-of-district students.
International education students — about 2,000 each school year — who pay $16,000 to attend schools in SD43 are not part of the cross-catchment process, Shong said.
“We strive to put [international education students] in schools where there’s as much space as possible, not to compromise that,” said Shong, who said the foreign students don’t have catchment areas and are placed by the international ed. department depending on space, although right now, applications are still coming in for the fall semester.
“In the end, cross-catchment is to allow opportunity but the primary function [of the school district] is to educate kids in their neighbourhood,” Shong said.
