By Ian Holmes

Dep Bay students to be displaced for 2 months while awaiting portable

Sep 18, 2018 | 5:21 PM

NANAIMO — Parents are outraged their displaced children at a crowded Nanaimo elementary school spend a portion of their instructional time in an outdoor storage cage.

Shirley Galbraith told NanaimoNewsNOW the chain link fenced enclosure, known as ‘The Cage’ at Departure Bay Elementary, is used several times a week for half-hour sessions for her son’s grade 6/7 class.

She said her son’s timetable includes sessions in several different classrooms, which she called alarming on many levels and a “disservice to students with learning shortcomings.”

School District 68 Asst. Supt. Tim Davie estimated a portable will be ready for the affected students “within the next couple of months.”

He said there are not scenarios where students are forced to study in the outdoor space.

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“This particular class is being accommodated within the school and if classes want to utilize the outdoor learning space they’re welcome to do so.”

Davie said sloped terrain and the need to hook-up services to the portable are in the way of a faster solution at Departure Bay School. He said the situation arose due to increased enrolment beyond projections throughout the district, including at Departure Bay School.

He said a dozen new students arrived at the school last week, noting the school’s catchment area has not changed. He said there could be the need for future additional portables at Departure Bay beyond the one currently planned.

A parent of a student in the displaced class at Departure Bay School, who wished not to be identified, is concerned about the disrupted learning environment.

“They’re having to move around a lot and they don’t have a permanent learning space, which is a pretty basic thing for them to have access to in a school.”

The concerned parent said the students are “unhappy” with constantly shuffling classes and said it will be difficult to settle into a regular routine.

Denise Wood, president of the Nanaimo and District Teachers’ Association called the situation challenging, but said all of the teachers at the school are “doing a great job making the best of a less-than-ideal situation.”

She isn’t aware of another scenerio where a classroom in the district does not have a permanent learning space.

“But there are possible situations where there could be or maybe should be an additional division being added that’s not being added because there’s not enough space.”

— with files from Dominic Abassi

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes