Parents of the nearly 250 children soon to be displaced from Silverheights Public School will have to wait to the end of June to find out where their children will end up.
Chris Smith, manager of planning at the Waterloo Region District School Board, fielded tough questions from parents during a meeting Tuesday night.
Students who live in the Mattamy-Townline area have been told there'll soon be no room for them at the already crowded Hespeler elementary school when a new subdivision in the school's catchment area is completed.
And the closest schools, Clemens Mill and Saginaw public schools are running at capacity
Assuring parents he would forward concerns to trustees, Smith cautioned the board's decision won't please everyone.
"The goal of the board is to do the best job we can with your children's education."
Smith noted that decisions aren't necessarily weighted by dollars but rather goals to find a long-term solution to keeping displaced students together.
With public consultation meetings concluded, school planners will wade through parental feedback and findings from a working group of planners, administrators and parents to come up with a recommendation.
One of the two options envisions busing kindergarten to Grade 6 students to Elgin Street Public School where a two-storey, eight classroom expansion would be built. Students starting grades 7 and 8 would go to Lincoln Avenue Public School.
The second scenario calls for students to be bused to Ryerson Public School which would also solve low enrollment problems and potential closure for the Preston school.
Using $1.5 million in government funds earmarked for Ryerson, this option would see a new school built on the same site. Students starting grades 7 and 8 would attend W.G. Davis Public School.
While sending students to Ryerson would solve the district's under-capacity issues, parents vocalized fears about trichloroethylene contamination in groundwater in neighbourhoods near the Preston school.
District officials maintain the school is outside affected areas and Ministry of the Environment tests show results are far below levels considered safe.
But one parent demanded a guarantee that contamination would never be found on Ryerson's property. Although he could not offer that guarantee, Smith said the Ryerson site would be considered for a new school if contamination were a concern.
Other issues raised included multiple transitions between schools and access to school-based daycare. Silverheights provides on-site daycare and offers priority to families in the school's catchment. Some parents fear they would lose access to that at a new school.
While the Ryerson scenario would include an on-site daycare at a newly constructed school, no expansion to Elgin school's daycare is currently planned.
However, Smith said he would raise the issue for consideration.
