Holy Spirit Catholic Schools Division is reviewing attendance limits

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald, October 30, 2024

Submitted photo – External visualization of the new primary school in the western part of the city, made by the Holy Spirit Catholic School Department.

HERALD LETHBRIDGE[email protected]

The Holy Spirit Catholic Schools Division announced Tuesday that it will begin consulting with parents regarding school attendance areas ahead of the fall 2026 opening of the new West Lethbridge Elementary School.

Carmen Mombourquette, board chairwoman, told The Herald in a telephone interview Tuesday that the division is seeing an unprecedented increase in student enrollment and, to ensure student enrollment is even at this new school and other schools across the city, it will conduct a review of the school’s attendance areas .

“Many of our schools, especially in the city of Lethbridge, are filling up quite quickly, and with the opening of a new elementary school west of Lethbridge, superintendents felt it was time to review all schools in our attendance boundaries,” Mombourquette said.

He said this overhaul will enable them to distribute students more equitably, while also ensuring that their primary focus is caring for students and their families.

Mombourquette added that they will review school boundaries for the new school, as each school in the city has boundaries depending on the district it is in, but there are several schools in the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division that enroll students outside of said boundaries, such as St . Patrick Fine Arts School or Ecole St. Marie School.

He added that the bus company will also have a map showing that if students live at a specific address and attend primary school, the bus will take them to the school designated in their area.

“The question now is: How can we ensure that our schools have enough space to accommodate all students? One way to do this is to test attendance limits,” Mombourquette said.

He said this would ensure that students attend the school that is most convenient for them in terms of distance from home and the ability to walk to school.

“Right now, for example, Father Leonard Van Tighem serves students from the very south end of the Westside all the way to the north end of the Westside,” Mombourquette said.

He added that the boundary of the other two primary schools covers a slightly smaller area. School of Fine Arts of St. Patrick’s Day includes the Riverstone, Paradise Canyon and part of Sundridge neighborhoods, while Children of St. Martha’s covers the area west and south of Copperwood.

“With the new school opening just west and north of the YMCA, we need to look at how to change the boundaries around the west side, but also ensure that all schools in the City of Lethbridge are responsive to the needs, interests of students and making sure that there is a place for all children in all of our schools,” Mombourquette said.

He said preparing for the new school would involve consulting with parents not only about its boundaries but also about its name.

“We try to make sure that we accommodate parents’ interest in children and their exposure to specific programs, having access to buildings that are responsive to student needs as well as the overall student population,” Mombourquette said.

He added that they also want to make sure they have a transportation system that fits within the financial envelope they received from the government for student transportation.

“What the Holy Spirit Catholic Schools Division really wants to emphasize is that we will be having a series of parent meetings, particularly in the city of Lethbridge, as we begin to exceed this attendance limit,” Mombourquette said.

He added that they will not present the initial plan to parents at their first meeting, but instead will go to the first meeting wanting to hear what parents have to say.

“Then based on what they say, as well as all the other demographic factors, we will come up with a preliminary plan,” Mombourquette said.

He said the first meeting would be sometime in January 2025.

“We want to first seek guidance, advice and thoughts, then we go to the drawing board to create an initial plan, and once we have developed that plan, we will go back to the parent community to share what that plan might look like, ask them for further insights and guidelines and then present them to the planning commission before they go to the board of supervisors for finalization,” Mombourquette said.

21
-20