OCDSB reconsidering plan to make students switch schools after Grade 3
Ottawa's English public board taking another look after resistance from parents
Ottawa's English public school board is looking at scaling back a proposal that would have seen more students switch schools after Grade 3 — a key part of its restructuring plan that's now under reconsideration following resistance from parents.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) said its elementary school review — the board's biggest reorganization in decades — is necessary to improve the quality of education and make the system more inclusive.
Under it, about 11,000 students would have switched schools in September 2026, up to 5,000 more than in a normal year.
Many parents have expressed displeasure with aspects of the reorganization including changes to school boundaries and the loss of alternative schools. The changes would affect students from kindergarten to Grade 8,
The board says it's simplifying the system to keep cohorts intact, but the overhaul would mean drastic changes to 17 schools.
Pino Buffone, the board's director of education, told CBC in an interview he's hearing from parents who don't want their kids to change schools that young, or be separated from their siblings.
"That's part of what I'm asking the planners to go back and look at," said Buffone. "This increase in split grade configurations — sort of the primary grades, and then the junior — can we relook at that to ease the pressure on some of our families, to keep their kids together?"
That could result in more schools that end at grades 6 or 8, instead of grades 4 or 5, he said.
Board trustees are expected to decide next month on changes stemming from the review.
With files from Kate Porter