Cowichan Secondary Dual Campus Feedback

 

February 7, 2018 letter to Cowichan Secondary School Dual Campus parents

Dual Campus Parents,

Over the past couple of years, the Board of Education has listened carefully to feedback from parents and the community regarding the current dual campus model of Cowichan Secondary School. They have clearly heard that parents want to see less movement between the two campuses, largely citing safety as an ongoing concern. This year, we have added a bus and extra supervision to help address this concern—but this feedback requires a longer-term solution.

Last night during the closed portion of the Board meeting, the Board made a Notice of Motion for the March 6, 2018 Board Meeting that they will make a decision on having Grade 9 students at Cowichan Secondary School remain on the Quamichan Campus rather than travel between campuses. This would mean that the two campuses would operate independently, which removes the need for a dual campus model.

To accommodate this, we are adding three modular structures to the Quamichan Campus to eliminate the need for Grade 9’s to move between the two schools. With the additional capacity, this means that starting next school year the Grade 8 and 9 students will remain solely at Quamichan, and the Grades 10-12 students will remain at the James Street location—with the exception of some of the senior fine arts students, who will continue to access the facilities at Quamichan.

We believe this change will be beneficial for staff in terms of how scheduling takes place, and it ultimately reduces the need for students to cross campuses, which is what many parents have told us they want. We believe this change will positively impact the learning opportunities of our students, and we remain focused on doing what is in the best interest of our learners while also listening and responding to parent voice.

Before the Board makes a final decision regarding formally ending the dual campus model, we are seeking feedback from parents and staff. Please send your comments to feedback@sd79.bc.ca before the end of February 25, 2018. Comments will be shared with the Board prior to their next Board Meeting.

If you have any questions, please share them with your school’s Principal or Vice-Principal. We will keep you informed of the outcome of this process, and the steps moving forward once we have more information to share.

Thank you for your ongoing support of student learning.

Rod Allen
Superintendent

 

View/Print a PDF version of this letter.

View a PDF of Questions & Answers for parents (added February 22, 2018)