KITCHENER – The Waterloo public school board is shifting its boundaries in order to take on a temporary solution to a much bigger problem.
Waterloo Region District School Board trustees voted unanimously on Monday in favour of a proposal that will help relieve overcrowding at Huron Heights Secondary School.
Southwest Kitchener is growing fast and Huron Heights, the only public high school in the area, is overcrowded.
"Huron Heights has been really stressed, the students, the staff, the parents have been really stressed for probably the last four or five years, because the school just grew phenomenally and it was way more than we expected," explains trustee Kathi Smith.
The long-term solution is to build at least one new high school in that area but for now, the school board is opting to redirect students from normal feeder schools.
Starting next year, the following feeder schools will change boundaries:
- Glencairn Public School, which normally goes to Huron Heights, will feed Cameron Heights
- Country Hills Public School, which normally feeds Huron Heights, will feed Cameron Heights
- Williamsburg Public School, which normally feeds Cameron Heights, will now send students to Forest Heights
- WT Townsend Public School, which normally sends students to Cameron Heights, will now feed Forest Heights
- Alpine Public School, which normally goes to Cameron Heights, will now send some of its students to Forest Heights.
The unanimous vote shows the willingness for trustees to find a solution.
"It was a great motion that was brought forward. It was unanimous, we did have one trustee who had a conflict of interest, but we were very pleased with the motion that staff provided us with this evening," said chairperson Jayne Herring.
The policy will not require any current high school students to change schools.
Still, the school board predicts it will need at least two new high schools in the area in the next 12 years. Currently, there are no plans in the works for any such movement in the next five years.
