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Kelowna  

No room for kids

Parents in Kettle Valley are devastated to find out their children won’t be accepted into the school they moved to the neighbourhood for.

Three mothers all said they followed the school's instructions to get their children accepted at Chute Lake Elementary, but were told on Monday that no new families would have their kids entering.

“We moved here for the sense of community and for the school,” said Laura Myles. "We moved here so our kids could go to the school.”

The thought of having her three children separated at multiple schools terrifies her.

“There has been a kids wait list every single year," she said. "There are 27 kids on that wait list just for kindergarten that will be sent to neighbouring schools.”

According to the parents, another 33 are wait-listed in other grades. Only students who have siblings at the school were accepted.

“Communities across our district are growing rapidly – in many cases, much faster than the schools that serve them,” the school district said in a press release.

The district said Chute Lake Elementary has limited space and property to expand.

“Some schools present an opportunity to convert existing multipurpose rooms to dedicated classrooms, which is relatively simple and cost effective. However, some schools have limited space and property in which to expand, such as Chute Lake Elementary," said the district.

On Thursday, the moms were told their children have been accepted into Anne McClymont Elementary.

“Starting school is scary, and the solution they are proposing to us is to send them down on the bus to another school. It is not our neighbourhood school,” said Myles.

Alanna Chambers, who moved to the community so her children could attend the school seven years ago, said the kindergarten classes have decreased in number three, to two and a half and now two.

A middle school is set to be built by 2019, but the parents would like a guarantee their children can be registered for Grade 1 at Chute Lake.

"It is seemingly the same situation year after year," said Camille Olsen. “They could have done better."

A public meeting will be held May 1 at the school.

“We feel that the school wants what's best for our community as well. We do feel that they are on our side and they do want to welcome our kids in there,” said Chambers.



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