Brendan Nobes, the chairman of the Boundary Review Committee, explains what will exactly take place during a public meeting to discuss the new school boundaries Jan. 11, at Lockview High School, in Fall River. The boundaries will help with overcrowding at

FALL RIVER: A Halifax Regional School Board boundary review meeting to discuss concerns residents have produced no major hurdles regarding the proposed changes.
The meeting, held Jan. 11, at Fall River-based Lockview High School, saw more than 200 people pack into the school’s cafetorium, to hear the interim boundary proposal as presented by Brendan Nobes, the chairman of the Boundary Review Committee.
The proposal will affect Waverley Memorial/L.C. Skerry Elementary, when the new facility opens in Sept. 2010, Ash Lee Jefferson Elementary School, in Fall River, Beaver Bank-Monarch Drive Elementary School, in Beaver Bank, Harold T. Barrett Junior High School, in Beaver Bank and Georges P. Vanier Junior High, in Fall River.
During the meeting, which lasted just 40 minutes, Nobes explained the boundary review committee had two main objectives when they began the review. He noted this boundary review is separate from the Imagine Our Schools review, which was just recently completed.
“Our goal is to increase the enrolment at Waverley Memorial/L.C. Skerry while reducing the enrolment of English program students at Ash Lee Jefferson,” Nobes said.
The proposed boundary consists of the existing Waverley Memorial-L.C. Skerry boundary, Windsor Junction Road, a section of Fall River Village and Capilano Estates.
Nobes said the new boundaries will affect those on Windsor Junction Road from Golf Club Road, across to the existing Waverley Memorial boundary, Windgate Road, Charleswood Road and Cumberland Way.
The boundary will see several streets change. Those include a section of Fall River Village, from Windsor Junction Road entering Fall River Village at Winley Drive to include Winley Drive, Hudson Drive, Bolton Drive, Ingram Drive, Devonport Avenue, Nottingham Lane, Sheffield Court, Newport Drive, Waterford Crescent, Glenmorren Court, Canterbury Lane, Lincolnshire Drive, Pinnacle Court, Whittington Court, Castlemark Court and Perry Court.
Also facing change is Capilano Estates, including all streets in Capilano that were previously in the Ash Lee Jefferson boundary.
Other locations being affected on Capilano Estates, which were previously in the Beaver Bank-Monarch Drive boundary, include Terry Road, Capilano Drive, Valerie Court, Briancrest Road, Kathleen Court, Vickilynn Lane, Ashlea Drive and Shirley Court.
All English program students from Windsor Junction Road, Capilano Estates and a section of Fall River Village, as determined by the geographical features and street configurations, will attend the new Waverley Memorial School. Those students in French Immersion will not be affected by the boundary change.
The student population supported a re-organization. Currently Waverley Memorial-L.C. Skerry has 181 students in a building that has a capacity for 350; Ash Lee Jefferson has 638 students in a building made for 484 students and Beaver Bank-Monarch Drive has 373 students, but has a capacity for 330.
“If approved by the board, the boundary change for 2010 will see 353 students attending Waverley Memorial-L.C. Skerry, 482 at Ash Lee Jefferson and 392 at Beaver Bank-Monarch,” Nobes said.
Only a couple of people in the audience had concerns with regards to the boundary review and none really dealt with the review change itself, but concerns other schools in the area weren’t part of the review.
Emily Richards asked why Holland Road Elementary School and those who live in the Miller Lake subdivision were left out.
“What we were charged with was to look at the overcrowding issue at Ash Lee Jefferson and to fill up the new Waverley Memorial,” Nobes replied, an answer that seemed to satisfy Richards.
Although the boundaries may be reviewed at a later date, the goal was to find a solution for all.
“We needed to get a viable solution that would be acceptable for all and serve the schools for at least the next five years,” Nobes added.
The new boundaries will mean the board will see optimum utilization of each of the facilities. With the increase in numbers, the new Waverley Memorial will not be under utilized when it opens, Ash Lee Jefferson will see a reduction in portable classrooms on site and Beaver Bank-Monarch Drive will inch closer to optimal enrolment numbers.
“This is just a proposal, it hasn’t been approved by the board yet,” Nobes said.
The next step is to go over all the information they received, including submissions received from residents by Jan. 18, to see if that can be worked into the proposal.
“The proposal is then presented to the HRSB,” Nobes said.
He believes not many questions were asked as there had been some chatter in the community about what was taking place. He doesn’t foresee any hold-ups in getting the boundaries changed.
“I don’t think there were a lot of big surprises for anybody,” he said. “We’ll sit down at our next meeting and have a look, but I don’t see any changes coming.”
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