Parents of kindergarten-aged students continue to wait on word of placements

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There’s still no word for many parents in Vancouver wondering if their kindergarten-aged children are going to get into their school of choice.

Former Vancouver School Board Trustee Patti Bacchus says the board told her it doesn’t know how many kids are currently on the wait list.

“And they told me that they didn’t have that number available to give to me, which I found rather surprising and kind of concerning,” she said.

Families signing their kids up at schools considered full will have to go through a lottery system for a spot, and may be placed in a school farther away, Bacchus explained.

“To many families, that means rearranging their before and after school care, arranging transportation, and many families in Vancouver don’t have cars, so it could really upset a family’s plan,” she said. “It’s tough for them to really know what the likelihood is of them getting into a local school or even one in a nearby catchment. If there are lengthy lists at several catchments clustered in an area, that means they may have to travel quite far.”

Bacchus believes more information should be provided to parents, sooner rather than later, adding the longer it takes for parents to be brought into the know, the tougher it will be for them to prepare for September.

Some schools do have waiting lists children can be put on, but many are already long. Other options for parents include putting their kids in independent schools, which can come with a hefty price tag.

A group of parents taking issue with the lottery system held a rally at the Creekside Community Centre in Vancouver on Thursday.

-With files from Kathryn Tindale, Lisa Steacy and Ria Renouf

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