With construction of Grandview Heights Secondary underway – and expected to open in 2020 – the Surrey School District is educating parents on how it plans to disperse South Surrey students.
The district has drafted four catchment boundaries – labelling one as preferred – that outline how the district plans to balance student numbers between Earl Marriott, Elgin Park, and Semiahmoo secondaries and the new high school, which is to be located at 16988 25 Ave.
The district is taking feedback and has scheduled four community forums.
The draft preferred by the district – and released publicly today (Friday) – shows South Surrey students east of Highway 99 and north of the current Hall’s Prairie Elementary catchment area, will become Grandview Heights Secondary students.
The preferred catchment map released by the district shows that Rosemary Heights, Morgan, Sunnyside, Pacific Heights and East Kensington elementaries are to fall within the Grandview Heights Secondary catchment zone.
Earl Marriott’s catchment zone is to include Jessie Lee, Peace Arch, South Meridian and Hall’s Prairie elementaries. Semiahmoo’s catchment zone is to include Bayridge, H.T. Thrift and White Rock elementaries. And, Elgin Park’s catchment boundary is to include Crescent Park, Ocean Cliff, Ray Shepherd and Semiahmoo Trail elementaries.
The three other catchment boundary options provided by the district show a different outline, but all are relatively similar.
Surrey School District communications officer Jacob Zinn told Peace Arch News Wednesday that come the 2020-21 school year, Grade 12 students will get to stay at their current high school, regardless of their zone. However, if Grades 8-11 students live within the new Grandview Heights Secondary catchment zone, they will be transferred in.
“Unless they have an older sibling in Grade 12 that year, then they will have the option to either stay with their older sibling at their school or they can move to Grandview Heights,” Zinn said.
The four drafts provided by the district show phased-in boundary variances between Elgin Park, Semiahmoo and Earl Marriott catchment areas. In the 2020-21 school year, Grade 9-12 students – outside of the Grandview Heights Secondary catchment area – will not change schools. However, students entering either Earl Marriott, Elgin Park or Semiahmoo Secondaries will follow the new catchment area, unless they have an older sibling.
Zinn said the drafts were created to provide population balance between high schools and ease overcrowding. Earl Marriott and Semiahmoo secondaries are operating at 123 per cent and 127 per cent capacity, respectively.
Further information about the plan has been added to the PlaceSpeak website (www.placespeak.com/sd36capitalplan). The website explains the process, and gives parents and students the opportunity to share feedback through an online survey.
South Surrey students up to Grade 9 are being given information packages to take home.
District forums will be held at Earl Marriott on April 30 and May 14, at Elgin Park on March 15 and at Semiahmoo Secondary on May 16, each from 6:30-8 p.m.
The district is encouraging families to attend the specific event for their own school, however, the information presented at each forum will be the same.
The consultation period runs until June 15.
