No easy fix for Paradise school overcrowding: Sandy Hounsell
The parent representative on the school council for Holy Family School in Paradise says there is no easy solution to fixing the problem of overcrowding.
There's a proposal on the table from the Newfoundland and Labrador English School district to bus about 400 students to the former School for the Deaf in St. John's starting in September.
Some parents have said the commute for their kids isn't an effective solution, and isn't one they want.
Sandy Hounsell, with the Holy Family council, says there are too many kids and not enough space, and something needs to be done.
"We have no cafeteria — that's being used as a classroom right now, the library is being used as a classroom. I mean, we've even had to take a change room and turn it into a classroom," he said.
With a proposed route of 12-kilometres to bus students to St. John's instead, some parents argue that's too much time for young children to be stuck on a bus.
"Everybody knows the traffic issues in Paradise and that's a concern for parents," said Hounsell.
Can't make everyone happy
Holy Family was built to accommodate 600 students, but 860 currently attend classes there — with more set to enrol in the next school year.
Hounsell admits it's a challenge that there's no clear solution for.
"No one thinks that the solutions here are the best solutions for what we're doing but we're trying to make the best of a poor situation," said Hounsell.
"First of all moving the kids out of the community, I mean, Paradise is a community [and] I think parents would like to keep kids within that area. And the other thing is the busing — obviously it's an issue for parents to have the kids on that bus for a longer period of time."
No matter what decision the school board makes, Hounsell admits some parents are going to be unhappy.
Parents will get the opportunity to make their views known at a meeting within the coming weeks.
