By Adam Berls

sd57

Mom frustrated with catchment in SD57

Aug 22, 2023 | 3:47 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A mother is saying that the catchment system in School District 57 is not working, causing her unnecessary headaches.

Kiana McFadyen is a mother of three children and her eldest child is going to be starting school in September. Kiana has been preparing to get her son started for school at Springwood Elementary in the Hart for 5 months now. Her son’s catchment school is supposed to be Springwood, as the family lives in Salmon Valley, but found out that her son will most likely not end up at Springwood this year making the situation stressful for the mom of 3, one of whom is less than a year old.

We had to do a lottery system to get into Springwood. Unfortunately, we’re second on the wait list. Our catchment area from Salmon Valley is Springwood. The only bus is to this school and fortunately we’ve tried meeting with the school district and the superintendent just to talk about these issues because they’re expecting us to drive my five year old to Heather Park every single day. And I will be going back to work here soon. And so I’ll be late to work every day. – Kiana McFadyen

Kiana will be going back to work at the start of the school year, and her husband works out of town, meaning it will be very difficult for her transport her son to school, making the whole experience stressful.

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A catchment area is defined as the geographical area established by the Board of Education as the attendance area for a school. After school care will also be an issue for Kiana, now that her son isn’t going to Springwood. The original plan was for her son to go to his grandparents who live just a few houses down from Springwood. After school care options are limited, with Kiana saying that many have no spaces available.

We reached out to School District 57 for comment on this issue and while we did not hear back by our deadline, they did refer us to documentation highlighting what the district’s policy is regarding catchment. In regards to the lottery system, District documentation says that names of all students in the priority category will be placed in an envelope and the names will be drawn one at a time, establishing the order in which registrations are accepted. Those who are not accepted go on the wait list.