GUELPH – About 50 parents, students and teachers crowded into the Upper Grand District School Board’s office on Sept. 23.
The crowd departed immediately after trustees voted unanimously for an interim boundary option for a new Guelph high school, with some people muttering “it doesn’t make sense.”
Unlike the boundary recommended earlier this month, the chosen option will not see Rockwood students redirected from John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute (CVI) to Centennial CVI.
From inside the board office, some people outside could be heard yelling “boo” and “ridiculous.”
The boundary chosen is “option 11,” which involves Grade 9 and 10 students in the catchment areas for Westminster Woods, Sir Isaac Brock and Rickson Ridge public schools attending the new high school when it opens in September 2026.
Those 470 students would otherwise attend Centennial.
Before a UGDSB finance and facilities meeting on Sept. 16, staff recommended trustees approve “option eight,” which includes the same boundary for the new school, but involves redistributing students between the other Guelph high schools to balance enrolment.
After hearing concerns from the public during that meeting, the committee changed its recommendation to option 11, with direction for staff to return with a report on secondary school enrolment upon completing program reviews, including French Immersion.
Option 11 is expected to remain in place for the 2026-27 school year.
UGDSB chair Ralf Mesenbrink said, “It establishes a boundary for the new school in a timely manner while providing time for the last program review to be completed, and for staff to then bring a report on enrolment to the board for action.”
Students, parents and teachers aired concerns with various boundary options during the meetings on Sept. 16 and 23.
Parent Erin Sevigny urged the board to increase outreach for public consultation on the boundary options.
Parent Michelle Hazlett said she is concerned about the boundary options that separate children from the same elementary schools into different high schools (in option eight this would be the case for Rockwood, Guelph Lake and Ken Danby public schools).
She encouraged trustees to pick option 11, as its temporary nature will offer more time to find the least disruptive option.
TJ Sprickerhoff also encouraged option 11. He said his daughter in Grade 9 was “devastated” when option eight was recommended, as she would have to transfer to Centennial for Grade 10 after already forming “solid roots” at John F. Ross.
“I call on the board to ensure that … students are never forced out of a school that they started in,” said Sprickerhoff.
“Students should always have the ability to be grandparented” and stay at their current school.
He added students within walking distance of one school should never be bused to a different school instead, which would be the case for some students if option eight is approved.
Madeleine Roberts and Nemea Giddings are Grade 8 students who delegated to the board.
They’re best friends who live near each other and go to the same elementary school, but would be separated into different high schools if option eight is approved.
“It’s important to keep graduating classes together,” Giddings said, adding separating friends can have negative impacts on mental health.
Roberts said she’s concerned about walking to school alone if her best friend and neighbour went to a different high school.
They said many of their peers have the same concerns.
Centennial teacher Shaheed Abraham-Doman said option 11 would not address over-population at high schools such as John F. Ross, where many students sit on hallway floors to eat lunch because there’s no space elsewhere.
He called option 11 the second worse option of them all, and called the board’s pivot to that route a “quick reaction to pushback on option eight.”
Trustee Luke Weiler called the boundary redistribution a “wicked problem” and said staff have been working hard to suggest a solution that balances many factors.
He said his biggest issue with option eight is students who live a few kilometres away from the nearest high school would instead need to take a bus to another school.
“I think it’s very important that children who have the ability to walk or bike to school should be able to do so,” Weiler said, as it increases dignity, independence, growth and health, and reduces emissions.
He described option 11 as a provisional solution “that basically keeps things status quo” while staff take more time to find the best long-term solution.
“If we were voting to implement option 11 as a permanent solution I wouldn’t be voting for it tonight,” he said, as there are “serious problems with option 11 on a long-term basis.”
Trustee Jen Edwards said “anytime there is a boundary review people get really, really upset,” which she considers a compliment to the UGDSB, “because they love their school.”
Mesenbrink said there was “huge public engagement” and that UGDSB staff have “done a phenomenal job” throughout the almost 18-month process to determine a boundary redistribution.
“Options eight and 11 ensure over 90 per cent of students at the new school are within walking distance,” Mesenbrink said, and “option eight reduces the number of portables from 16 to one.”
He said option eight is the best option, but the job of trustees is to balance public concerns with what’s in the best interest of the board.
So he is in support of approving option 11 until more information is available to approve a long-term enrolment boundary.
“Our role as trustees is to share concerns raised by the public, but ultimately to make decisions in the best interest of the board as a whole,” Mesenbrink said.
