The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is addressing student distribution imbalances in the region by undergoing a sweeping attendance area review that could result in boundary changes as soon as 2024.
At the regular board meeting on Tuesday night, trustees discussed at length how the TVDSB is planning to manage capacities at local high schools as the population in and around the city of London continues to climb.
“We have an opportunity to relieve enrolment pressure at our schools and be proactive in order to secure funding for a new secondary school in London," said TVDSB's Superintendent of Facility Services and Capital Planning Geoff Vogt. "As an organization we must properly prepare ourselves for the additional growth that is expected."
All high schools across London will be subject to review except for H.B. Beal Secondary School, where the over-capacity state is attributed to its specific program offerings. Schools outside London, such as Medway High School, Lord Dorchester Secondary School, and East Elgin Secondary School in Aylmer will be included in the process.
Over the next several months, the TVDSB will invite parent and guardian volunteers to represent their student's school on an Attendance Area Review Committee. By June 2023, they hope to have a final report for the Board of Trustees. If any changes are made as a result of the attendance review, they will be implemented in September 2024.
For parents and guardians of younger students such as Grade eights, the TVDSB's website will be a resource for information and a means of offering feedback on the attendance review process. The school board wants ideas, opinions, and concerns from the public to help inform their decisions.
TVDSB is also planning to add a French immersion program at Clarke Road Secondary School, which will be the third of its kind within London city limits. Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School and Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School already offer a full French curriculum. More information about the newest program will be available at the board's Program and School Services Advisory Committee Meeting in March.
Finally, TVDSB is working on getting a new elementary school up-and-running in Belmont, a rural community southeast of London. According to Vogt, the Ministry of Education approved the proposal for a new Belmont school back in 2020. However, the project has been stalled due to a lack of "meaningful movement by the developer," Vogt said. TVDSB is now working on expropriating the property. Once the board has title of the land, the school should open within 30-36 months.