Parents of students at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School are organizing to oppose a zoning decision that will see 50 students forced to change to a school 18 kms away.
Up to 50 children who live north of Highway 40 in Vaudreuil will now be required to attend either Mount Pleasant Elementary School in Hudson or change to a French school under the rezoning by the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
Parent Sean Birch said he’s upset because the move to Mount Pleasant will add to an already lengthy commute.
“I barely get there now from Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary,” he said. “It’s a no go for us.”
Some of the affected parents have formed a petition and plan to meet with the school board.
“We have to let the commission and the major school change people know that it doesn’t work for us,” said Lorina Walker, who organized the petition. “We’re part of the system, we don’t want to be left out.”
Lester B. Pearson School Board Chair Suanne Stein Day defended the decision, citing a need to reduce the school population at Trudeau.
“We have schools that are underpopulated and schools that are overpopulated,” she said. “(Trudeau) is an example of a school that is very overcrowded.
“The community, their first choice is to expand Pierre Elliott Trudeau but the government will not give us funding to expand or give us a new school,” she added.
