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Ottawa Citizen

OCDSB trustees vote to approve boundary changes, phase out alternative schools

In a marathon meeting Tuesday night, trustees at Ottawa's largest school board voted to phase out alternative schools, keep 26 classes for students with special needs and approve controversial boundary changes. Article content Article content Trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board also voted in favour of a motion that would see exemptions allowed for anyone who is eligible and wants one — as long as the program exists, there are spaces available and the exemption does not affect the viability of programs at both the receiving school and the sending school. Article content Article content Reasons for applying for an exemption could include the student's education needs, child care and keeping siblings together in the same school — or even just because it's the family's preference. Exemptions will be decided centrally and not at the local level. Article content Article content 'Now the threshold is much lower,' said trustee Lyra Evans, who proposed the motion. Article content 'I think we will be better off as a district to keep as many people happy as possible.' Article content The families of hundreds of students may be contemplating moving schools in September 2026 as boundaries change and programs are phased out. Parents have been battling against controversial school boundary changes, arguing that the changes would separate siblings and force some students to travel farther when the stated goal of the review was to keep as many students as possible in neighbourhood schools. Article content The decisions made Tuesday night, to be finalized May 13, are the result of an ambitious review of elementary programs at the OCDSB prompted by concerns about inequities in schools as French immersion programs drew students away from community schools, leaving some English-only schools with barely sustainable populations. Article content Article content There has been discussion about how decisions will be made around 'grandparenting' students whose families want to remain at their current school. Article content Article content The decision to adopt Lyra's motion is 'a step in the right direction,' said parent Shannon Worek. 'But it's insufficient to address a lot of concerns that parents have.' Article content But it was a night for celebration for the families of children in specialized program classes. The original proposal included gradually phasing out 26 specialized program classes and returning the students to mainstream classrooms. Article content 'It was a 'yipee' moment,' said Eevee McOuatt, the mother of Silas, 9, who has autism and ADHD. Silas has been a student in the Learning Language Program, which has eight to 10 students and focuses on verbal and reading skills, as well as responding to social cues.