Overcrowding at Bedford high school causing frustration as school year approaches

One Halifax-area high school is over crowded, while a brand new high school just down the road has plenty of space.

The new West Bedford High School in Bedford, N.S., has a capacity for 2,000 students and is set to open in September.

The new West Bedford High School in Bedford, N.S. (Paul Hollingsworth/CTV Atlantic)

“Enrolment will be somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000 students in the building, when school starts,” said Halifax Regional Centre for Education spokesperson Lindsey Bunin.

That means the new high school will likely be under capacity at a time when the nearby Charles P. Allen High School is over capacity, with outside portable classrooms.

In a letter to parents, CP Allen’s principal said: “To ensure safe and comfortable learning spaces for all, approximately 220 students in Grade 11 only will attend classes at the CPA annex.”

The annex actually consists of six empty classrooms at the new high school.

Students will be bused back-and-forth.

“It really was a great solution to help with the enrolment pressures on the CPA side,” said Bunin.

Charles P. Allen High School is pictured in Bedford, N.S., on Aug. 31, 2023. (Paul Hollingsworth/CTV Atlantic)

Andrew Warnica disagrees.

Warnica has two children, one at the new West Bedford High School in Grade 9 and the other is in Grade 11 at CP Allen.

Warnica said the main purpose of the new school was to alleviate the overcrowding at CP Allen.

“But, last winter, they announced there was going to be a different learning model and that was not received well,” said Warnica. “People did not want to send the kids there.”

Warnica fears this new setup will disrupt the academic and overall school experience for students.

“My student is in Grade 11 and had much of his junior high disrupted with COVID and what not,” said Warnica. “He is now going to have to probably spend multiple days a week going back-and-forth between the two schools.”

Warnica has other concerns.

“What if your kid has extracurricular activities in the morning at CP Allen, but the morning classes are in West Bedford?”

“The community, teachers, or anyone else, they weren’t consulted appropriately beforehand,” added Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Ryan Lutes.

Lutes adds enrollment pressures at multiple schools could be harmful to the learning environment. 

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