Ottawa’s largest school board has announced that it will open kindergarten registration at four elementary schools after announcing in December that it was
closing registration at the schools
.
The schools include Churchill, Regina Street, Riverview and Lady Evelyn. All four have
alternative programs
, which are slowly being
phased out
.
In a message to parents dated March 9, the
provincially-appointed supervisor
, Bob Plamondon announced that parents will be able to choose to send their children to their currently designated school or an alternative school site.
The change affects a limited number of students, but it reflects the OCDSB’s commitment to student success and well-being, and to respond positively to concerns and common sense recommendations from parents, said Plamondon.
“This supports keeping siblings together and serves families who live close to these schools,” he said. “Our approach will manage potential school overcrowding without requiring students to change schools.”
The controversial elementary program review, which was
cancelled last October
, was an attempt to meet this goal but the transition would have required thousands of students to change schools abruptly — potentially separating sibling, Plamondon said.
OCSB staff will undertake localized planning and accommodation studies where school boundaries could change, beginning with the areas where the four schools are located, he said.
The OCDSB informed parents on Dec. 17 that there would be no junior kindergarten programs in alternative schools next September.
Parents had feared that the schools were in danger of closing because they would lack a stream of new students. According to one count, cancelling enrolment at the four schools would leave over 200 spots empty.
There has been a moratorium on school closings since 2017, but but Education Minister Paul Calandra has been clear that underused schools in supervised boards face closures. The OCDSB was
placed under supervision
in June
As of last March, Lady Evelyn, which has a capacity of 361 students, had an enrolment of 94 students. Churchill has a capacity of 387 students with 302 enrolled. Riverview’s capacity is 384 students with 194 enrolled. Regina Street has room for 300 students with 197 enrolled.
Meanwhile, neighbouring schools are sometimes over capacity. Broadview, for example, has a capacity of 806, with 869 students enrolled as of last March.
Parents had organized a protest in front of the OCDSB office on Greenbank Road on March 9, but cancelled it after receiving the announcement.
“This is a win. This is good news for us,” said Amanda Case, the chair of the parent council at Churchill. She’s the mother of two students at the school and a third child she hopes will be registered in junior kindergarten at Churchill in 2027.
The announcement is a relief, said Alison Hanvey, who has a five-year-old currently in senior kindergarten at Churchill and a three-year-old who would have to be registered at another school.
“It’s what we’ve been fighting for. They listened,” she said.
In a message from director of education Stacey Kay, the OCDSB said the
four alternative sites will be accepting junior kindergarten students for the 2026-2027 school year.
The program will follow a regular 50/50 full-day, fully bilingual program with 50 per cent English instruction and 50 per cent French, operating in accordance with existing Alternative school boundaries, said Kay.
“We are working to update our online school locator to reflect this change within the coming days,” she said. A separate process for registration and child care will be established for these schools, and the full details will be communicated to families.
“We will confirm the specific program model, grade structure, and final boundaries for these four schools following comprehensive accommodation reviews in and around these sites in the coming 24 months,” said Kay.
The announcement buys time, said Case.
Kindergarten registration began in January. Some parents may have already registered their child for kindergarten at another school, but Case said she knows of some who were waiting to register at Churchill in the hopes that things changed. The announcement will also allow time for staffing decisions, which must be made by the end of March under the contact with the teachers union.
Meanwhile, the specific program model, grade structure, and final boundaries for these four schools will be confirmed following comprehensive accommodation reviews in and around these sites in the next 24 months, according to Kay.
“The future is not clear. I don’t think that the board knows the future of the schools. That’s what the review is for,” said Case, who acknowledges that parents are very nervous about boundary reviews after the
controversy surrounding
the elementary program review.
“At least we have a temporary means to allow for continuity. That was our ask and that was what the board gave us.”
