P.E.I. school issues bigger than Stonepark overcrowding

Overcrowdingat Stonepark Intermediate School is a big problem, P.E.I.'s education minister acknowledges, but is just one example of issues faced across the province.

Stonepark is projected to have 920 students this fall, and if there are no changes it will not have room for the students projected to be in the school in September 2017.

• 'We just don't have any room left': Charlottetown school principal

"Stonepark is a concern but Stonepark is just one example or symptom of some of the realities that we have all across the province of Prince Edward Island both from an overcapacity and undercapacity perspective," said Education Minister Doug Currie.

"We've got some time. This is not going to be a piecemeal approach."

Redistribution of students, realignment of schools

Currie said he has been across the province visiting schools and looking at school population projections. He told CBC's Island Morning Monday the solution lies in reconsidering how schools are being used across the province.

There's probably more undercapacity situations than there are overcapacity.- Education Minister Doug Currie

That will mean not just redistributing students, but also changing the roles particular schools are playing, and having them in some cases expand the number of grades they offer.

"There's probably more undercapacity situations than there are overcapacity. That's just part of the reality as the result of where people are choosing to live," said Currie.

The process of realigning the school system will involve input from newlycreated district advisory councils, said Currie, as well as the general public.

The end result will be that the education system will look different in September 2017 than it does now, Currie said.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Lucy the Duck's new family escorted back to marsh
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |'It just means a lot': Bluefield grads grateful to celebrate prom