Parents now face different chaos with OCDSB boundary changes

David Krochmalnek and daughter Talia, 6, and son Ashton, 9, are photographed in front of the Severn Ave. Public School. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIAArticle content

Revisions of school boundary changes at Ottawa’s largest school board released last week have had some parents sighing with relief.

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Others say it has merely plunged them into a new kind of turmoil.

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In a regular year, between 6,000 and 8,000 students change schools. But in the original plan boundary plan released on Feb. 28 by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, an additional 3,000 students would change schools in September 2026.

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Now a new plan, which involves more than 40 schools, whittles down that number to about 1,500 more students than in a regular year.

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“Grandparenting opportunities will likely exist for some of these students, lowering the number further for those who have to transition to new schools,” the board said last week.

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But some parents say the new boundary shifts have created new uncertainty.

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Take the dilemma faced by David Krochmalnek, a parent at Severn Avenue Public School. Under the Feb. 28 plan, Severn Avenue would be turned into a kindergarten to Grade 3 school, with older students travelling across Highway 417 to attend Pinecrest Public School, a plan that had parents perplexed and angered.

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“I can’t think of a reason why crossing a 400-series highway makes sense for a community,” Krochmalnek said.

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The kindergarten to Grade 3 plan was rescinded last week, meaning students could stay at Severn Avenue until Grade 6. “We think that’s a win,” Krochmalnek said.

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But the changes don’t solve everything for his family. Severn Avenue will also be one of only six at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to be French-immersion only. Students in the English stream will still have to go to Pinecrest.

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Krochmalnek has a daughter in the French immersion stream and a son in the English stream.

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“We were hoping for neighbourhoods to be upheld,” he said.

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Jane Harley, a parent at Devonshire Community Public School, said the initial plan called for 42 per cent of the school’s population to be transferred to three different schools: Centennial, Cambridge Street and Mutchmor. Under the newly revised plan, those students will all be moving to Cambridge Street.

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On the plus side, no students will have to cross Bronson Avenue or Carling Avenue, Harley said.

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But she sees the new plan, which was proposed by parents, as a “glimmer of logic.” The other part of the parent proposal was to “grandparent” current Devonshire students — exempt them from the move — until they aged out of the school, Harley said.