Superintendent's Letter to RDCRS Parents, Guardians and Staff - January 2023
January 31, 2023
Dear Parents, Guardians and RDCRS Staff,
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) is blessed to be opening St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle School in September 2023. As RDCRS continues to prepare for our new middle school, a core team of educators, transportation department representatives and senior leadership personnel have been assembled to start preparations for St. Lorenzo Ruiz. This team will be undergoing extensive work over the next six months as communication with RDCRS stakeholders is pivotal. To date, the core team met on January 18 and will continue to meet regularly for ongoing discussion, collaboration and preparation.
Implementation of the RDCRS boundaries are currently in effect for the 2023-2024 school year. To view the School Boundaries interactive map, please click here.
Through the RDCRS boundary development process undertaken in spring 2022, it became apparent that RDCRS must review our transportation model. Our Division remains committed to providing quality service for our families, however, to ensure ride times remain reasonable as our Division grows, the following changes will be implemented:
- We will strive to create more consolidated stops. Therefore, students’ walk times to their bus stops will increase. We will continue to examine the number of stops in order to ensure reasonable ride times.
- Express routes will be utilized to reduce ride times. As we focus on an efficient transportation system, bell times will be examined and adjusted Division-wide to support express routes.
- For registered riders, only two addresses will be utilized; the primary address (where the student resides) and one additional address (where the student resides) with appropriate joint-custody orders on file. Families may incur the costs of having students take an additional seat on a second route.
- Non-registered bus students will not be permitted access to transportation (for example, to join a friend at their house after school), and bus-registered students must ride their designated routes only.
In addition to transportation adjustments, RDCRS’ grandfathering guidelines have been implemented:
- Any students entering Grade 6 or Grade 10 will be required to attend their catchment school as per school boundaries. To view the school boundaries, please click here.
- Students in Grades 7, 8, 9 and Grade 11 or 12, can choose to remain at their current school if they fall out of catchment at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Transportation will be provided for one year only as per our Division’s transportation eligibility guidelines below. Following the 2023-2024 school year, transportation will be at the parents' expense and organization, for example, The City of Red Deer Transit system.
- Please note, any students who are part of a congregated program will continue to receive transportation as previously provided.
Division Transportation Eligibility:
Please note that Division transportation eligibility and associated transportation fees may change for your family based on the Division’s new boundaries. If your residence is located more than 2.4 km from your designated school, no fees apply. If your residence is located less than 2.4 km from your designated school, the current fee of $300 (subject to change) will apply. If you are unsure of what school is your child's designated school, please access the School Boundaries interactive map on our Division website by clicking here.
We are pleased to announce that Mr. Rob Coumont will be the Principal at St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle School, who took over responsibilities on January 16. Mr. Coumont has served in the Division since 2005. He has been a teacher at St. Patrick's Community School, an assistant principal at Father Henri Voisin School, and Director of Inclusive Education at Montfort Centre, before his previous role as principal at École Our Lady of the Rosary School. To view Mr. Coumont’s welcome letter, please click here.
We look forward to ensuring we foster gospel-centered communities of hope within our Division. Thank you for your ongoing support and collaboration. Your contributions help to shape the future of our growing school communities.
God bless,
Dr. Kathleen Finnigan
Superintendent
