People in the City of Kamloops can now have their say on four proposed school catchment area changes during a two month long consultation process.

The process for three of the proposed changes affecting Aberdeen and Pacific Way elementary schools, Sa-Hali and South Kamloops secondary schools, and Dallas and RL Clemitson elementary schools got underway last Tuesday, April 13 and will last until June 4. A decision is expected at the June 14 school board meeting.

Similarly, consultation on the fourth change affecting Juniper Ridge and Marion Schilling elementary schools goes from today until June 21, with a decision expected at the June 28 meeting.

Kamloops-Thompson School District Board Chair, Rhonda Kershaw, says the changes will help alleviate some of the enrolment pressures at schools in Kamloops.

“People can go to our website and they can look through the information as well as we will be hosting some public meetings. Staff will also be going on and talking to the PACs of the schools that are affected,” she said, on NL Newsday.

“So we’ll have a really comprehensive consultation process that will last 60 days.”

Kershaw says if approved, these catchment area changes will come into effect in September 2022. That is also when the School District is planning to reopen Ralph Bell Elementary school in Valleyview.

At a special board meeting yesterday, the SD73 board of trustees voted unanimously to begin the public consultation process ahead of a potential reopening of Ralph Bell Elementary. That comes after both SD73’s Education as well as the Finance and Planning committees recommended that the board move forward with the consultation.

“I think this is going to be a very important movement for the community to come in. The data speaks for itself,” Trustee Shelley Sim said, referencing the three daycares currently occupying space at Ralph Bell that would be displaced if the school was to reopen.

“At the end of the day, I personally feel it’s a real shame that our four years of lobbying have not come to a new school, and rather, we have to consider opening a school based on community feedback, a school children will be bused to.”

If reopened, Ralph Bell Elementary would house kids from Kindergarten to Grade 7. It comes as Juniper Ridge Elementary is currently well over capacity, with more growth expected, while Marion Schilling Elementary is at capacity, though enrolment is expected to continue to increase.

If Ralph Bell were to reopen, catchment area changes would see 129 students now at Juniper Ridge being bused to Ralph Bell while another 82 kids currently at Marion Schilling would also make the switch.

“We are a district that does try and do everything in our power to do the best we can for the students under our care, but our situation is urgent, our situation is getting desperate,” Vice-Chair Meghan Wade said.

“It will be up to the community to help us, and inform us in making this choice, as to whether we open up Ralph Bell, to change catchment areas, and bus kids in.”

Speaking on NL Newsday, Kershaw says people can have their say online or at a series of public meetings in a couple of weeks.

“Staff has recommended these changes based on how the numbers work best in the community, but there might be some local knowledge that they don’t know or they didn’t think to consider,” she added. “So, it is really important that communities and parents really start to consider what these boundaries will look like.”

There is a public meeting scheduled for May 5 regarding the reopening of Ralph Bell Elementary school. Similar public meetings affecting the other six schools are set for April 27, April 29, and May 4.

For the full details of the consultation process, go here.