November 6th to November 20th In order to protect the identity of all individuals who have submitted correspondence with regard to the
King George JK-8 FI Boundary Review and in keeping with the Municipal Freedom of Information and
Protection of Privacy Act, all personal information and/or identifiers have been severed from all
recorded communication (i.e. e-mails and letters) prior to distribution. The intent or message has not
been changed.
November 7, 2012
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If renovation is not an option, what is the projected cost to King George portable
deployment? Where does this money come from? How can they assume they’ll have this
money for expansion but not Victory?
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What are the costs for transportation year over year to King George? What is an
acceptable pay back period if renovation can reduce this OPEX?
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Why is deploying portables at King George a better option to manage over-runs than
using already deployed portables at VPS?
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What is the true capacity at Victory including the deployed portables?
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Is there a driver to remove the already deployed portables at Victory? If so why?
November 8, 2012
I urge the Review Committee to place sufficient weight on how beneficial it is to have children
walk to and from school. It provides children (and parents) excercise and a decreased
association with the car or bus for daily life. It encourages familiarity with their
neighbourhood and neighbourhood recognition of its children (community building). It
decreases the costs associated with bussing. It builds school community when parents meet
and talk at school when dropping off and picking up. Overall the health of the community is
greatly enriched by walking to school. It is so very important. Thannks
November 10, 2012
Has the board considered surveying all Victory families to see whether any of them would
voluntarily choose to move their kids to King George, given the option? It might save a lot of
aggravation.
November 13, 2012
I respect that you, The Boundary Review Committee, have been mandated with a very
challenging task.
Your decision on this matter could have a long term negative impact on a strong and vibrant
community, its economic benefit to the city and the health of its citizens, in particular that of
their children.
1 November 6th to November 20th It is very important that you recognize this process as your opportunity to distinguish
yourselves and set a new standard by broadening the scope of variables to be considered
and collaborating with parents and residents to establish a future path which will not only
maintain this robust community but potentially enrich it further.
Victory Public School and its community has an enviable legacy because of the hard work
and commitment of its citizens and this deserves to be supported.
This is your opportunity to significantly impact your legacy and you have our support.
Respectfully yours,
November 13, 2012
I am a parent of a toddler who will begin full day kindergarten in 2014. My plan is to enroll
my child in the FI program. I recognize the pressures that the board faces in planning for
increased enrollment (and reduced space associated with accommodating full time
kindergarten). However, the proposed re-zoning (and especially Scenario 1 - sending children
enrolled in FI to King George for grades 4-6 instead of Victory) is cause for deep concern. If
Scenario 1 is pursued, young children will be expected to walk through the downtown core to
get to school - a route that crosses several busy streets. More importantly, however, I object
to number-crunching solutions that might be ideal on paper, but result in an outcome that
takes children out of their neighbourhood. Although my daughter is not yet school-aged, I
regularly interact with children in the neighbourhood (on their way to/from school as well as
outside of school hours). The school, and its children, is an integral part of the
neighbourhood. A neighbourhood school promotes safe and healthy lifestyles - interacting
with neighbours, walkability, and community embeddedness. Indeed, our decision to move to
the Exhibition Park neighbourhood last year was strongly influenced by the proximity (and
walkability) of the neighbourhood school, Victory, as well as the strong sense of community in
the area.
Please consider all of the needs and values associated with this decision carefully, and not
just the 'numbers'.
November 13, 2012
Don't relocate our kids. Renovate our school!
November 13, 2012
I am a parent whose children attended Victory in the past. My youngest is now at John F.
Ross. I was involved in the East End Review committee several years ago. I am happy that
the new King George School is a result of that review.
2 November 6th to November 20th I am NOT pleased that Victory is now at risk of losing students. This is a school that has been
threatened with uncertainty many times in the 20 years that I have lived in the
neighbourhood. Don't mess with a good thing. This is a very strong school community. It
provides children with a caring environment. Kids walk to school. A community school has
been proven to be best for kids. There has to be a better solution to the overcrowding. What
about an addition on the newer portion of the school?
November 13, 2012
I love our school and the community that develops between children and parents as we walk
to school and back every day. I would dearly love to see Victory stay a community, dual track
school that accomodates K to 6. It seems that long term projections (2017) show many
schools over capacity. An expansion of Victory School seems like a winning solution.
If expansion is not possible at this time, please consider the impact of a grade 4-6 move to
King George. It will involve drop off and pick up at two schools. I will not be able to walk one
child to King George and one to Victory. The reality is we will have to drive. We will need
before and after school care for our school age children, but now, rather than with a
neighbour or Victory Kids Club for both of my school age children, we will need childcare in
two different places (one near King George and one near Victory).
I hope the board will consider moving grade 6 students in both tracks as a solution to
enrollment pressure at Victory. If that is not sufficient, I wonder if the best solution is not to
move children who are already bused. Please keep our kids walking to school until they are
old enough to navigate to King George independently!
November 13, 2012
My concern is having children going into grade 6 and grade 3 in 2014 and having them in
separate schools for years!! Both are presently in the FI program and of course ideally having
them together is important. However, dividing communities is also very difficult. I honestly
do not know what the best option is. For our situation I'm leaning toward moving grade 4-6
FI to King George as my children would only go to different schools for 1 year. At least by
moving grades friendships that have been developed can continue.
thanks for reading
November 14, 2012
I support Scenario 1 as it provides a reasonable solution while maintaining a dual track
community school to the extent possible. Grade 4 is a natural transition and having a strong
senior FI program will benefit students instead of it loosing steam as English is introduced and
the natural effects of dual track school interfere with true immersion in french. However, it is
3 November 6th to November 20th critical that the Bus eligibility be strongly reviewed as indicated! The route is potentially
hazardous.
November 14, 2012
The Province of Ontario’s Places to Grow Act (2005), in which Guelph is specifically named
as a place of growth, declares the need to create “compact urban forms” and “intensification
areas that will be planned and designed to support transit, walking, and cycling for everyday
activities”. It also specifically notes that “investment in community infrastructure… such as
schools… should be planned to keep pace with changing needs and to promote more
complete communities”(Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006 Office
Consolidation, January 2012, p.23). In light of this Provincial Act, and its intent to
coordinate planning across jurisdictions such as provincial/municipal/local boards, I would
like to know why the board staff have recommended solutions that fracture an existing
community and create a situation in which there will almost certainly be increased bussing
and driving, thereby working against the Provincial Act. Why, when the province and the city
are both focussing on creating stronger, denser communities and decreasing traffic loads,
would there not be a long-term plan within the school board that would work in the same
direction? Thank you for your time.
November 14, 2012
I've read the FAQ's and reports, and been to a limited number of meetings.
I have two questions that I feel have not been addressed, both having to do with safety.
Question 1 - I took some time to tour the exterior of King George PS. I am not happy about
the size and quality of the grounds there. Visually it seems like a very small space for the
proposed number of children, with very little equipment to guide activities. The 'grass' area
will quickly lose all vegetation when the full amount of students arrive, becoming a mud pit in
wet times and a rock hard dust bowl in dry times. Also, I understand that the contingency
plan at King George is to have 6 portables. Your FAQ's about Victory decry portables
because they take up valuable space and create blind spots impossible to supervise. I would
like to know the outside area available to students at King George, with and without
portables. I would also like to see a drawn up exterior plan of King George including 6
portables, and an accompanying safety plan concerning blind spots. I would like to know if
the Board has a policy for minimum number of square metres of space per child during
recess. I would like to see a comparison of square metres of space per child at recess at
100% capacity for King George compared to Victory, and an analysis of the safety and
psychological / development consequences therein.
Question 2 - What does the board feel is the proper age for a child to
walk home on his or her own from a bus stop. I see buses travel close to my street, so I
understand that my child will have to cross Exhibition street. I have 2 children 2 years apart.
4 November 6th to November 20th Under Scenario 1, my grade 4 son will go to KG, and my grade 2 daughter will go to Victory.
When I am bringing my grade 2 daughter to and from school, that means my grade 4 son
must get himself to and from his bus stop independantly, and then wait at home for us to get
there. Does the Board consider it at all appropriate for a grade 4 (8 years old at the
beginning of the school year) to cross Exhibition st, walk home and be at home by himself?
Does F&CS have the same view of this situation as the Board, or is the Board forcing parents
into a situation where they will be in conflict with F&CS? How has the Board reached it's
conclusions as to what age is safe and psychologically appropriate to walk home and be at
home by him/herself?
I fully expect answers to these questions on an update FAQ document, and as a direct
response to my email. Thank you.
November 14, 2012
I appreciate the work and analysis of the staff at the ugdsb in looking at this issue. However, I
believe more scenarios should be assessed to maintain the local integrity of the victory p.s.
french immersion population. I, like many other parents, will consider transferring my child to
the english stream at victory p.s. in order to keep my two children at the same elementary
school. I note that reviews of the english program or additional infrastructure were not
considered when assessing the options. Thank you for considering my comments during your
public input process.
November 14, 2012
I am a Victory Public school parent! I was like to voice my concern with respect to the current
King George boundary review, which is a short term solution to a long term issue. I would
implore the board to think of alternatives to moving our children out of their neighbourhood
school. I would support the use of portables as an alternative to moving the 4,5,6 grades to
King George. If this not possible, please consider moving all the grade 6's both English and
French so all the children can stay at Victory through grade 5 together with their cohorts! Our
school is vital part of our community please respect when you come to ultimate decision.
Thank-you.
November 15, 2012
I am a parent of two English students attending Victory. I am concerned about the
suggestions being put forth to the board by some of the parents at Victory.
I don't like the ideas of more portables on an already small playground and limited
washroom space - or turning the library into more classrooms.
5 November 6th to November 20th I do understand the concern about the distance to King George. Buses should be available. I
don't understand the resistance to sending children to a brand new, beautiful school.
Exhibition Park is a vibrant, generous and friendly community. Our children will continue to
play in the parks, go skating at the arena and ride their bikes in the streets regardless of
where they are attending school. I don't agree that these boundary changes are 'destabilizing
our community', it may make us even better.
November 20, 2012
Hello. Your office has shared with some parents the average costs of running a school bus
for a year ($40k), and of getting a portable ready for use ($20k). Thank you for that
information; I have a few questions of clarification, if you don’t mind.
I assume the annual school bus cost includes salary, insurance & licensing, repairs and fuel.
Does it also include the purchase price amortized over a reasonable lifetime, or is that price
isolated in another budget stream? Of the $40k running cost, approximately what
percentage of that is fuel cost – which is likely to be the most vulnerable to sudden inflation?
Comparatively, does the cost of bringing a portable ‘online’ reflect an *annual* running cost
(utilities/insurance/maintenance), or are there one-time hook-up costs included in that
~$20k? Approximately what percentage of these are energy bills (and therefore most
vulnerable to sudden inflation)?
Thank you for your time.
November 20, 2012
Hi,
To begin, I would like to say that we DO NOT support the proposed Scenario 2 – Victory
JK 6 FI Boundary Change. Scenario 1 is more appropriate.
My family and I are moving to the Victory Public School area in January and one of the
reasons we chose this area was the proximity to Victory Public School for our 2 children. We
are moving to a house on the north side of Division st and were very disturbed to discover
that this side of the street could be reassigned to King George.
We believe this is a terrible solution as it means that any friends of our children who live on
the south side of our street will be attending a different school than our children degrading
the sense of community that we hoped to enjoy in this area.
Why is the boundary splitting a street? We do not understand the logic here as it seems to
make more sense to set the boundary to all streets north of Division and not split a street.
Regards,
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