Lambert-Closse out-of-district pupils told school is too full

Parents of more than a dozen children expecting to attend Lambert Closse school in Mile-End yesterday arrived on the first day only to find out that their kids were being bumped due to overcrowding.

The parents of 18 children say they only learned yesterday that they would have to find another school for this year.

In some cases, the children have attended the school for years. The students affected live outside the catchment boundaries.

​Tania Carreira said her two children, entering grades ones and four, woke up excited to start the school year. That quickly turned into frustration and disappointment when her older son learned there was no space for him.

Her nine-year-old son Ethan was reduced to tears after being told he wouldn't be allowed to join schoolmates he's known for five years, she said.

"Now he's at home waiting to know what's going to happen to him," she said.

The school cut one of its Grade 4 classes this year, but her younger son still had his spot.

She is now scrambling to find a place for both her boys to go to the same school.

Yves Blanchet from the school's parent committee says the CSDM is handling of the situation is "unbelievable and unacceptable."

"Eighteen kids who have been sent to different schools without warning. They could've warned these parents."

The Commission scolaire de Montréal said priority in high-demand schools is given to pupils from within the area.

A spokesperson for the school board said it has to wait until the first day of school to find out how many children have enrolled. 

It says this situation is not unusual and there's always a risk if parents decide to send their kids to schools outside their home district.

Carreira says she tried to enroll her son into a school in her district but it is also full. 

She said she will keep fighting to keep both her sons at Lambert-Closse. 

"I think they are handling this with administration logic, which is not compatible with the welfare of the kids."