Canadá: Clarenville parents keep kids home to protest cramped school

América del Norte/Canadá/Septiembre de 2016/Fuente: CBC News

RESUMEN: Padres y representantes de la escuela primaria Riverside en Clarenville protestaron el dia viernes por considerar la escuela como un edificio de hacinamiento. «Esto no está bien. Los niños no merecen este entorno. Los profesores no se merecen este ambiente», dijo Jeanette Avery, una madre de dos hijas en Riverside. Avery ha estimado que la escuela tiene 735 estudiantes este año, pero sólo fue diseñado para sostener 550. Ella dijo que dos nuevos portátiles se han añadido este año escolar para hacer frente a la falta de espacio, después de una expansión prevista se canceló debido a los recortes presupuestarios. Ella dijo que el alto número de estudiantes que asisten a Riverside ha dado lugar a preocupaciones de seguridad. «Mi mayor temor sería una evacuación de incendios, o cualquier evacuación de verdad», dijo, añadiendo que nadie ha sido capaz de decirle a ella o a otros padres la capacidad máxima del edificio en el código de fuego.

Some Riverside Elementary students in Clarenville got Friday off school when their parents kept them home in protest over what they say is an overcrowded building.

«This is not right. The children don’t deserve this environment. The teachers don’t deserve this environment,» said Jeanette Avery, a mother of two daughters at Riverside.

Avery estimated the school has 735 students this year, but was only designed to hold 550. She said two new portables were added this school year to deal with the space crunch, on top of three others installed in 2015, after a planned expansion was cancelled due to budget cuts.

«In that expansion we were going to have a new gymnasium. The old gymnasium was going to be turned into a permanent lunchroom…and seven additional classrooms. So now that is not available to us,» she said.

Avery said her younger daughter has had a rocky start to the school year in a tightly packed Grade 4 classroom.

«She was actually having anxiety attacks because of the congestion,» Avery told CBC Radio’s the St. John’s Morning Show.

Safety concerns

Avery and many other parents and students turned out for a protest at 8:30 Friday morning outside the school. She estimated about 70 per cent of students were out of their classes.

She said the high number of students attending Riverside has led to safety concerns.

«My biggest fear would be a fire evacuation, or any evacuation really,» she said, adding no one has been able to tell her or other parents the building’s maximum capacity under the fire code.

While Avery has gotten face time with Education Minister Dale Kirby and officials at the school district, she’s unhappy with an overall lack of traction on her issues.

«I still feel like im being delayed… something needs to happen now,» she said, unhappy with any explanations offered up so far: «basically that this is not a Riverside issue, this is across the province.»

«My question is — so that’s OK?»

Earlier this week, Kirby told the CBC that while Avery and other parents have legitimate concerns, the province isn’t in a financial position to give the green light on the Riverside expansion project. He said teachers and staff are handling the large volume of students well, and the quality of education has been maintained.
School board responds

Meanwhile, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District said in an email to CBC that 727 students are currently enrolled at the school.

According to the board, enrolment as 661 in 2011 when a major extension was completed.

«A variety of initiatives have been put in place this year to help to address concerns and reduce the number of students in a given area,» the board’s email read.

For example, there’s extra learning space for music due to the addition of three modular classrooms.

A letter from Riverside’s principal to parents said the school has gone from two lunch periods to three lunch periods.

The board said this will, «cut down on the number of students in the cafeteria or the playground at any given time.»

Fuente: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/riverside-elementary-parents-protest-in-clarenville-1.3775558