The boundaries have been set and both families and the division are going to have to live with them.
Foothills School Division trustees were in a near no-win situation when it had to set boundaries on March 6 to accommodate the opening of the Kindergarten to Grade 8 Meadow Ridge School in the fall.
There is no way you can fill a school with more than 400 children without having to move a few students.
Okotoks is not growing that fast.
So it comes as no surprise that some parents were upset that their children will be forced to move from their schools to other facilities in order to fill Meadow Ridge.
A large part of the ire came from parents living in the southwest part of Okotoks, in the Cimarron Gardens/Springs area. It’s a triangle shaped kind of area and those students will have to move from Westmount School to either Big Rock Elementary or Okotoks Junior High School.
The parents felt their voices weren’t heard at a Jan. 24 meeting, when no changes were made to the final map on March 6 that were presented to the public earlier.
Trustees and administrators have offered an “administrative procedure” allowing some students to register for an out-out-of boundary school if they meet certain criteria.
The public and trustees aren’t in a total no-win situation.
A new school is something to celebrate and it is a clear indication that Okotoks is and may continue to grow.
With public elementary schools and junior high school in Okotoks pushing the boundaries to what is sustainable student-size wise, Meadow Ridge is needed. A whole lot worse if trustees were having to close schools.
Hopefully, a number of affected students can be accommodated, but the opening of a new school is always good news.
