Back to school 2017 version

[speedog]

So it's that time - back to school and in the news is the new CBE busing situation. Will this affect many beyond members - probably not because most beyond snowflakes are driven/chauffeured to/from school but some of the lowlife beyond members must be affected by this. Are there other issues as well - I only ask because I don't have any in school any more but it is still interesting to hear of what's going on.

[Sentry]

I'm super not excited for my commute to be fucked by moms in SUVs and minivans.

[schocker]

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I'm super not excited for my commute to be fucked by moms in SUVs and minivans.

I appreciate the ones who block the road and corners to wait until the bus has left. Super convenient and safe for all.

[ExtraSlow]

For the first year one of my kids will be bused, but we are in a special needs program so our busing is not part of the larger CBE program, it's run separately. Will let you know how it goes, but so far it sounds okay.

[rage2]

We got suckered into the Alternative program years ago. Back then CBE was pushing kids to these programs to ease the burden on local schools and fill seats in empty inner city schools. Now, CBE is fucking over these kids. Our bus stop is 5km away this year, and next year it'll be Calgary Transit only. Of course kids don't want to change schools with friends and what not, so we're pretty much stuck. Lucky for us, I work downtown so we can make it work, but for other parents, their transportation fees go up, and kids travel much longer daily and have to deal with multiple bus/train transfers, which makes travel time completely unpredictable especially in winter.

Our younger kids won't be doing alternative schools when they reach kindergarten age.

[rage2]

Interesting article from the Sun.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/09/01...ble-bus-routes

The CBE introduced the All Boys Program in 2012, keeping open an inner-city school in Killarney that was rapidly losing students in regular-programming. At the time, the board promoted its as an outstanding program catering to the unique learning style of boys.

But now, after many families have committed to the program, parents argue the CBE is abandoning its responsibilities to provide reasonable transportation to the All Boys School, along with many other alternative programs.

"They are literally forcing parents to figure things out on their own, so they can just cancel all busing to alternative programs, and then maybe even cancel alternative programming altogether," Hassman said.

"We have been misled," agreed Neufeld. "It's like they're just trying to force kids out of alternative programs."

Neufeld's family is one of dozens that have switched out of the All Boys Program at CBE, reducing the total number of students registered to 130 from last year's 170, says Holly Hassman, head of the school's parent council.

"Everyone's growing concern at this point is whether this program continues to be viable if it keeps losing families," said Hassman, who is staying with the program only because she has found a way to drive her son Max, who also has unique learning needs.

"Many parents, like myself will try and do whatever it takes because this is such a good school, but once we go below 120 students, the question is whether it even stays open."

Haha, the cycle continues. Can't wait to see inner city parents bitch about their schools closing in a couple years, which is a repeat of 2010.

[speedog]

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Interesting article from the Sun.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/09/01...ble-bus-routes



Haha, the cycle continues. Can't wait to see inner city parents bitch about their schools closing in a couple years, which is a repeat of 2010.

Interestingly enough, the inner city schools in Highwood are very full but they were re-purposed with different programs in the past number of years. James Fowler will be re-purposed soon enough as well - my suspicion is it will have a Mandarin Bilingual program started very soon there to compliment Highwood Elementary and Colonel Irvine Junior High which are both Mandarin bilingual as well (Irvine has three other programs as well). Cambrian Heights Elementary is crammed full as well - english program.

Now if the CBE shuts down these Mandarin bilingual programs then I could see things changing but I do not suspect that'll happen and any bussing changes for those families won't make much of a difference as most of those kids are already driven to/from school now.

[rage2]

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Interestingly enough, the inner city schools in Highwood are very full but they were re-purposed with different programs in the past number of years. James Fowler will be re-purposed soon enough as well - my suspicion is it will have a Mandarin Bilingual program started very soon there to compliment Highwood Elementary and Colonel Irvine Junior High which are both Mandarin bilingual as well (Irvine has three other programs as well). Cambrian Heights Elementary is crammed full as well - english program.

Now if the CBE shuts down these Mandarin bilingual programs then I could see things changing but I do not suspect that'll happen and any bussing changes for those families won't make much of a difference as most of those kids are already driven to/from school now.

It's basically a 10 year cycle for inner city schools. This is nothing new, just CBE incompetence in balancing things properly. The cycle goes something like this:

1. Inner city schools are empty. Threatened to shut down. Suburb schools are packed full.
2. Introduce alternate programs, or other means to encourage suburbanites to send their kids inner city.
3. Popularity soars. Inner city families can't get into these schools and gets bussed to low capacity suburb schools.
4. Figure out a way to reduce enrollment to said special programs to please the urbanites. This decade, it's transportation cuts.
5. Enrollment drops. Programs eventually gets terminated and students moved around to remaining schools with said programs.
6. Schools are empty again. Go to #1.

For #2, 2010s it was alternative (language, science) programs. 2000s was IB/AP and other smart kid programs. 1990s was problem kids programs. I'm sure people in my generation remember all their low life friends getting kicked out of school and ended up at Western haha. Then a decade later, it was all nerds. Now, it's French immersion. So random.

This years #4 was fairly convenient. NDP wanted to get rid of fees, so transportation revenue for CBE tanked. Easy way to reduce enrollment.

The core problem is inner city schools just can't sustain the enrollment numbers on their own because most ppl with kids want to raise them in the suburbs. Those schools tie up funds to add schools in the suburbs which are packed to shit.

[suntan]

#3 doesn't happen. There are no inner city families.

[kertejud2]

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For #2, 2010s it was alternative (language, science) programs. 2000s was IB/AP and other smart kid programs. 1990s was problem kids programs. I'm sure people in my generation remember all their low life friends getting kicked out of school and ended up at Western haha. Then a decade later, it was all nerds. Now, it's French immersion. So random.

The 'French option' has been a way for kids to avoid going to Manning and Wisewood for at least two decades now in favor of Western.

[Masked Bandit]

Bus stop for the oldest hasn't changed (one block away), the stop for our youngest is a bit further away now, four blocks total maybe?

[dirtsniffer]

What's wrong with the other schools?

[colsankey]

There's tons of families in garrison and marda loop..

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#3 doesn't happen. There are no inner city families.

Theres tons of families in Garrison and Marda Loop. Are other sections of inner city all dinks and single people?

[ExtraSlow]

Two elementary schools near me in the inner city are both seeing greatly increased enrollment this year and last due to many more families in the area. Both are regular programs too, nothing unique or language based.

[J-hop]

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It's basically a 10 year cycle for inner city schools. This is nothing new, just CBE incompetence in balancing things properly. The cycle goes something like this:

1. Inner city schools are empty. Threatened to shut down. Suburb schools are packed full.
2. Introduce alternate programs, or other means to encourage suburbanites to send their kids inner city.
3. Popularity soars. Inner city families can't get into these schools and gets bussed to low capacity suburb schools.
4. Figure out a way to reduce enrollment to said special programs to please the urbanites. This decade, it's transportation cuts.
5. Enrollment drops. Programs eventually gets terminated and students moved around to remaining schools with said programs.
6. Schools are empty again. Go to #1.

For #2, 2010s it was alternative (language, science) programs. 2000s was IB/AP and other smart kid programs. 1990s was problem kids programs. I'm sure people in my generation remember all their low life friends getting kicked out of school and ended up at Western haha. Then a decade later, it was all nerds. Now, it's French immersion. So random.

This years #4 was fairly convenient. NDP wanted to get rid of fees, so transportation revenue for CBE tanked. Easy way to reduce enrollment.

The core problem is inner city schools just can't sustain the enrollment numbers on their own because most ppl with kids want to raise them in the suburbs. Those schools tie up funds to add schools in the suburbs which are packed to shit.

I believe there is an element of being able to afford inner city as well. I know city transit runs into the same problem with aging/diminished ridership in areas where the average families can no longer afford to live.

I'd be willing to bet the average child density has slowly progressed away from the core of the city over the years which is likely a contributing factor to the 10 year cycles you talk about.

[nickyh]

3 schools less than 1km from my house, can't wait for the traffic fuck ups on the way home.

They moved a playground zone to start in a new location (the start signage is strategically placed behind a tree) about a month ago, so people now drive through the new school zone and old playground zone doing 50+. They always sped in the playground zone, so i'm not surprised really, but they really have no idea where it starts unless you were paying attention.
there also is no where for parents to park to drop off the kids either, so I can see parents parking in the road and double parking in the mass confusion until they figure out how / where to pick their kid up.

I'm glad i leave early enough in the morning so i only have to deal with one headache, but I for one know it's going to be a long school year.

I could avoid the Webber parents by not take 14th Ave and semi had to deal with the Calgary Academy parents that went along the park, now I have Webber + Calgary Academy + Holy Guardians. Oy!

[rage2]

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Two elementary schools near me in the inner city are both seeing greatly increased enrollment this year and last due to many more families in the area. Both are regular programs too, nothing unique or language based.

Yea, there's definitely exceptions to the rule.

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I believe there is an element of being able to afford inner city as well. I know city transit runs into the same problem with aging/diminished ridership in areas where the average families can no longer afford to live.

I'd be willing to bet the average child density has slowly progressed away from the core of the city over the years which is likely a contributing factor to the 10 year cycles you talk about.

My theory is that average child density actually changes based on this cycle. When inner city schools are in the full cycle, families just gets frustrated and move elsewhere. When the schools are in the empty cycle, families move in to take advantage of emptier classrooms with the bonus of fitting in their preferred inner city lifestyle.

[suntan]

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There's tons of families in garrison and marda loop..

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Theres tons of families in Garrison and Marda Loop. Are other sections of inner city all dinks and single people?

There are not enough families to sustain public schools in those areas. So yes, you see some kids around, but not nearly enough.

[benyl]

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1990s was problem kids programs. I'm sure people in my generation remember all their low life friends getting kicked out of school and ended up at Western haha. Then a decade later, it was all nerds. Now, it's French immersion. So random.

In the 90s, problem kids ended up at Fowler, not Western. IB / AP was popular at western in the 90s. French immersion was also popular in the 80/90s. I was at Western from 91-94. All I remember was nerds and rich kids from Britannia, Elboya, and Rideau Park. Nerds would come far and wide on the City Bus bus because of IB. I went to Western for IB even though I was designated for Central Memorial.

[suntan]

Yeah I have no idea where he got the idea that Western had the problem kids. It was the school you went to if you wanted IB and a challenging learning environment.