6C. Delegation: Jeff Elzinga, Leslie Park Public School Council
6c. Delegation: Jeff Elzinga, Leslie Park Public School Council Ottawa Carleton District School Board – Western Area Accommodation Review Leslie Park Public School Parents’ Council Second Written Submission January 2017 Dear Trustees, We mean no prejudice to the parents, staff and students of Briargreen Public School. However, we have strong concerns that the recommendation to close Leslie Park Public School (LPPS) will have perverse effects in terms of learning outcomes for a large cohort of LPPS students, and unnecessary additional capital costs and running costs for the Board. In anecdotal discussion with both Board Staff and individual Trustees, we have been told that we are one of the smallest single-track English schools in the Board, so we must be closed. We also are concerned that that Board staff have not accurately presented both school’s attributes for an acceptable side-by-side comparison of school options for Trustees. We have been direct in requesting the Board to implement your own walk zone policy in undertaking this accommodation review. We feel that there would be immediate substantial savings in bussing costs if school attendance boundaries were adjusted to reflect walk zones. For historical reasons linked to the former cities of Nepean and Ottawa, Grant Alternative, Leslie Park Public School, Pinecrest Public School and Briargreen Public School are all sited within a 2km radius from each other. In addition to the existing LPPS neighbourhoods of Leslie Park, Valley Stream and Sheahan Estates which are in our existing school boundary’s walk zone, the entire neighbourhood of Briargreen, the majority of Morrison Heights, half of Qualicum and a significant part of Craig Henry neighbourhoods also fall into the 1.6km walk zone area of our school.
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