Holy Spirit Catholic school division reviewing attendance boundaries as student enrollment surges

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 30, 2024.

Submitted photo - An exterior rendering of new westside elementary school provided by the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Holy Spirit Catholic School Division announced Tuesday that they will begin consulting with parents regarding attendance areas ahead of the new West Lethbridge Elementary School opening in the fall of 2026.

Carmen Mombourquette, Board Chair told the Herald during a phone interview Tuesday that the division has been experiencing unprecedented student enrollment growth and to ensure enrollment in this new school and others across the city is equalized, they will be reviewing attendance areas.

“So many of our schools, particularly within the city of the Lethbridge, are filling up rather quickly and with the advanced of a new elementary school going to be open on the very West of Lethbridge, the trustees felt it was time to review all of our attendance boundaries,” said Mombourquette.

He said this review will allow them to make a more equitable distribution of students, while also making sure their primary focus is to look after students and their families.

Mombourquette added that they will be reviewing the school boundaries for the new school as each school within the city has boundaries based on the neighbourhood where the school is located, but within the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, there are some schools that include students from outside said boundaries like St. Patrick Fine Arts School or Ecole St. Marie School.

He added that the transportation company would also have a map that if students live at a particular address and they were in elementary, the bus would take them to that particular school designated to their neighbourhood.

“Now the question is how can we ensure that our schools have sufficient room in order to accommodate all the students? And one way to do that is to take a look at the attendance boundaries,” said Mombourquette.

He said this will also make sure students will attend a school that is most convenient for them based on distance from their home, with the potential to be able to walk to school.

 “Right now, for example, Father Leonard Van Tighem is serving students from the very South end of the West side all the way to the very North end of the Westside,” said Mombourquette.

 He added that the boundary for the other two elementary schools cover a slightly smaller area. St. Patrick Fine Arts School covers the neighbourhoods of Riverstone, Paradise Canyon and a portion of Sundridge, while Children of St. Martha’s Elementary School cover the area West and South of Copperwood.

 “With the new school opening now just to the West and the north of the YMCA, we need to take a look at how to rearrange boundaries around the West side, but also for all of the schools with the city of Lethbridge to accommodate need, student interests and making sure that we have space for all children in all of our schools,” said Mombourquette.

He said the way they will be preparing for the new school is by consulting with parents on not only the boundaries, but also on the naming of it.

“We are trying to make sure we accommodate parent interest for the children and the exposure they like to have to a certain programming, being able to access buildings that can accommodate students’ needs, as well as the student population,” said Mombourquette.

 He added they also want to ensure that they have a transportation system that still lives within the financial envelope they received from the government in order to transport those students.

“The part that the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division really wants to stress is that we’re going to have a series of parent meetings, particularly within the city of Lethbridge as we start to enter into this attendance boundary,” said Mombourquette.

 He added that within the first meeting they will have with parents they are not going to present parents with a tentative plan, instead they are going to go into that first meeting wanting to hear what parents have to say.

“And then based upon what they say, as well as all of the other demographic factors, we’re going to come up with a tentative plan,” said Mombourquette.

He said the first meeting will take place sometime in January 2025.

“We want to seek guidance, advice and thoughts first, then we are going to the drawing board to create a tentative plan and once we have that developed, we’re going to go back to the parent community again to share what that plan might look like and ask for some further insights and guidance from them, and bring that back to the planning committee before it goes to the Board of trustee for finalization,” said Mombourquette.