Parents fighting to save unique Mill Bay school from returning to catchment pool
Evan Jamieson’s nine-year-old son Oliver has thrived at Mill Bay Nature School in Mill Bay, B.C., despite all of his challenges.
“He has special needs, autism, ADHD and limited language capacity,” said Jamieson.
The school, which takes students from kindergarten to Grade 7, offers a unique learning environment based around inclusion, with a heavy emphasis on outdoor learning.
“It’s really been an unqualified success story for him,” said Jamieson.
As of next year, the school will begin a transition prompted by the Cowichan Valley School District, to be rolled back into the school catchment system.
“What we’re doing is over the next three years moving kindergarten to Grade 2 into the Mill Bay School and having George E. Bonner School, which is just down the road, a Grade 3 to 7 school,” said Jeff Rowan, assistant superintendent, communications and community relations for the district.
Rowan says the Mill Bay Area is experiencing the fastest growth in the entire district. Currently Mill Bay Nature School has an enrolment of roughly 90 students.
“It has a capacity of over 200,” said Rowan.
He says the district needs that under-utilized space as projections show all the schools in the Mill Bay Area will be at capacity within the next few years.
“For us personally, it’s been life-changing,” said Stewart Hachey, a parent of a student at Mill Bay Nature School.
“Their individual strengths have been valued,” said Jaime Blacklock, another parent of a student at the school.
For these parents, the potential loss of the school's unique way of teaching and inclusion has been nothing short of devastating.
“(The district) did not just create a program, they created a community that is now a family,” said Hina Charania, a parent at the school.
The parents now fear that family is being broken-up.
“This is a reconfiguration, this is not a school closure,” said Rowan.
The district says although some of the schools programming will change with the different grades coming in, a nature component to learning will stay.
“We’re fighting it in every way we can,” said Jamieson.
The school’s PAC hopes the district will reconsider the schools reconfiguration and has created a Change.org petition, including taking their concerns public.
“As soon as soon as I can stop doing media I’m reaching out the B.C. Supreme Court to start the process of filing for a judicial review on this decision,” said Jamieson.
He says the school needs to be saved in its current configuration.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Loblaw leaders push back on 'misguided criticism' of grocer as boycott begins
Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
There's a limit to how much interest rates in Canada and U.S. can diverge: Macklem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.