Parents raise alarm about overcrowding at London elementary school

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Parents of children at a south London elementary school are speaking out about safety concerns caused by an increase in enrolment and the possibility more portables will be added to the schoolyard.

There are already nine portables at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic school on Ernest Avenue.

“The . . . school is originally built for 430 people and we’re tipping the scales at 700 now,” parent Ashleigh Withenshaw said.

A meeting has been arranged with John Jevnikar, a trustee on the London District Catholic school board, at the school on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to address questions and concerns, she said.

“Kids don’t feel safe going to school,” Withenshaw said.

“The bullying is escalating,” she said. “Kids can’t regulate their emotions and learn to communicate when they are crammed into one area.

“The resources aren’t enough, there isn’t enough to go around.”

Cass Schembri, who has a son in Grade 1, said the population at Sir Arthur Carty is “almost double every surrounding school.

“They are getting all these portables and they are losing yard space,” she said. “Students are not allowed to run on the tarmac which makes sense. . . but when you are taking away their yard and cutting it in half, how are kids going to have any room to run and burn off their pent-up energy off so when they go back into the classroom the teachers are able to manage?”

Withenshaw said she is frustrated Sir Arthur seems to be the only school to fill up when other schools have space for more pupils.

“My question is why is the only solution to the increase in enrolment to put in more portables and cramming these kids into a sardine can?” she said. “I am pretty frustrated by the whole situation -– no one has the numbers we do.

“The kids in portables feel isolated from the school community.”

Gabe Pizzuti, chair of the London District Catholic board, said the board is capping enrolment at Sir Arthur Carty at the end of the current school year.

But pupils will still be allowed to enrol at the school until the end of June.

Pupils who try to enrol after June will be moved to St. Jude Catholic school on Viscount Road in Westmount, Pizzuti said.

Sir Arthur Carty has the capacity add five portables, but won’t be known how many will be added until at least the end of June.

“We need to build a new school,” Pizzuti said. “The reality is we are doing our best and then on top of that we have to staff these schools.”

The booming London District Catholic board is trying to keep pace with soaring enrolment. The board is adding 57 portables for the 2024-25 school year at a cost of more than $5 million.

Considered the fastest growing Catholic school board in Ontario, the board expects 1,200 additional students this fall, a 4.6 per cent increase in enrolment,  Pizzuti said.

The board has 26,000 students, up from 24,000 last year, spread out across 43 elementary schools and nine high schools.

During the past five years, the board’s student population has grown 30 per cent and London city hall planning forecasts anticipate 21,000 new homes over the next 10 years.

hrivers@postmedia.com

@HeatheratLFP