In an effort to tackle School District No. 57 (SD57)’s catchment and capacity issues, the district is moving Edgewood and Spruceland from the Duchess Park family of schools to the D.P. Todd family of schools.
As of June 2020, grade 7 students leaving Edgewood and Spruceland will attend grade 8 at D.P. Todd Secondary instead of Duchess Park Secondary.
The change has been recommended as a solution for overpopulation at Duchess Park, which is a triple track school that includes English, Francophone and French immersion programming.
Duchess Park’s current student population, including 44 Ecole Franco-Nord graduates, is 1,075.
Its capacity, as listed by the ministry of education, is 900.
An expansion and renovation of D.P. Todd Secondary is also on SD57’s five-year capital plan.
The hope is to add room for an additional 300 students. Currently, D.P. Todd has 640 students and its capacity, as listed by the ministry, is 600.
The catchment and capacity review stakeholder advisory committee advised further review and discussion should be held with the ministry of education to determine the feasibility of adding the 300 additional seats to D.P. Todd Secondary.
A public information session regarding the recommended change to Edgewood and Spruceland, where members of the board of education will be in attendance, will be held on Tuesday, June 11 at Edgewood and Wednesday, June 12 at Spruceland.
Both sessions are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.
The recommendation changes were issued by the catchment and capacity committee and accepted by the education services committee and the board of education.
