Eastern School District asks for more classrooms

P.E.I.'s Eastern School District is asking the province to build about 16 new classrooms, at an estimated cost of $2.7 million, to make room for incoming kindergarten students.

The request came out at a public meeting Wednesday night at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown. Kindergarten is currently taught in private facilities, butis moving into the schools in September. The meeting was called to discuss rezoning schools to make room for 1,000 kindergarten aged children.

In addition to making the request for renovations,trustees voted to extend the deadline for a school rezoning report by two months.

The decision follows a request by the P.E.I. Home and School Federation to allow more time for the process after hundreds of upset parents showed up at a school board meeting. The parentsare worried rezoning will upset their kids and disrupt their education.

In a letter to the Eastern School District requesting the extension, thefederation asked for more parent involvement. The schoolboard said Wednesday that it would alsogrant that request.

"What we heard tonight is that they want a shift in the way that the board operates, they want to hear more from parents. It's a real opportunity for parents," said federation president Bill Whelan.

The board has yet to work out specific details about how parents will become involved in the discussions.

More room in Charlottetown schools

The board is looking to rezone 13 schoolsthis year, although that number could change. Eight of those are in Charlottetown.

Rezoning had been considered the plan for making room for kindergarten students, until the trustees voted to build the new classrooms. They would go to three schools in Charlottetown Sherwood Elementary School, L.M. Montgomery Elementary School and West Royalty Elementary School that have been identified as not having enough room.

Gael MacEachern was the only dissenting trustee. She said more construction will only lead to more school closures.

"We cannot continue to build buildings larger when we're facing declining enrolment," MacEachern told the meeting.

"There are schools that are under capacity kilometres away."

It was a smaller, quieter crowd last night than at two previous meetings, with about 200 people attending.