Close
Skip to Content
HDSB Logo
Main menu icon
I'd Like to...
  • Access eLearning courses
  • Apply for a Job
  • Find Adult and Continuing Education
  • Find My Local School
  • Find Student Busing
  • Get Homework Help
  • Pay Online
  • Register My Child for School
  • Rent School Space
  • Report A Student Absence
  • Request a Transcript
  • Resolve an Issue/Concern
  • Transfer within the Halton District
  • Volunteer
Alerts
  • Parents
    • Absence Reporting - SchoolMessenger
    • Calendar
    • Get Involved
    • Health and Well-Being
    • New to Halton
    • Register My Child for School
    • Special Education Programs and Placements
    • Welcome to a New School Year
    • Before and After School Care
    • COVID-19
    • Halton Community Resources
    • Human Rights & Equity
    • Pay Online
    • Report Cards
    • Technology & You
    • Why Choose HDSB?
    • Bus Cancellation and School Closure – Inclement Weather
    • Find My Local School
    • HDSB Mobile App
    • Kindergarten
    • Privacy and Freedom of Information (FOI)
    • Safe Schools
    • Transportation
  • Students
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • COVID-19
    • Graduation Requirements
    • High School Info Night
    • International Students
    • Safe Schools
    • Student Senate
    • Welcome Centre for Newcomer Students
    • Calendar
    • Environmental Leadership
    • Halton Cloud
    • Homework Help, Guidelines and Tools
    • Library Services
    • Secondary School
    • Transcript Requests
    • Community Involvement Hours
    • Expelled or Suspended Students (H.O.P.E.S.)
    • Health and Well-Being
    • Indigenous Rights & Education
    • Online Resources
    • Student Excellence Awards
    • Virtual Learning
  • Schools
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • Distribution of Materials to Schools
    • Information Technology in Schools
    • Program Accommodation Studies
    • Rent School Space
    • School Construction Projects
    • School Hours
    • Transfer Schools within the HDSB
    • Who to Contact
    • COVID-19
    • Find My Local School
    • Our Schools
    • Register My Child for School
    • School Boundary Reviews
    • School Enrolments
    • Secondary School
    • Transportation
    Image School Listing
    School Listing
  • Learning and Resources
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • Curriculum
    • English Language Learners-ELL
    • French
    • International and Indigenous Languages Elementary
    • Library Services
    • Secondary Education and Pathways
    • Virtual Learning
    • Arts Programs
    • De-Streaming
    • EQAO
    • Health and Physical Education
    • Kindergarten
    • Literacy & Math Resources
    • Special Education Programs and Placements
    • Before and After School Care
    • Elementary Education Programs
    • First Nation, Métis and Inuit Students
    • Innovation in Education at the HDSB
    • Learning & Tutoring Opportunities
    • Prior Learning Assessment
    • Summer School
  • Our Board
    • 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan
    • Board of Trustees
    • Contact Us
    • Get Involved
    • HDSB Employee Groups
    • How to Resolve Issues and Concerns
    • Labour Updates
    • Policies and Administrative Procedures
    • Accessibility
    • Budget and Financial Information
    • Departments
    • Halton Learning Foundation
    • HDSB Student & Staff Census
    • Human Rights & Equity
    • Livestream
    • Publications
    • Administration and Superintendents
    • Careers at the HDSB
    • Director's Cut - Videos
    • Have Your Say Survey
    • HDSBcares
    • Indigenous Rights & Education
    • News
    • Reimagine Forward

Reasons for PAR

subnav icon More
Home/Schools/Program Accommodation Studies/Burlington Secondary School Program Accommodation Review (PAR)/Reasons for PAR/
Decrease Text Size Default Text Size Increase Text Size
Print Link
Share Link

More in this Section...

  • Program Accommodation Studies
    • Burlington Secondary School Program Accommodation Review (PAR)
      • Board Reports
      • Communications
      • Community Involvement
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • How to Read Options
      • Live Online Question and Answer Session with Stuart Miller
      • News and Updates
      • Options
      • Process Timelines
      • Program and Accommodation Review Committee
      • Public Meetings
      • Reasons for PAR
      • School Information Profiles
    • Burlington Secondary School Program and Accommodation Review (PAR) Implementation
      • Burlington PAR Implementation Update #8 - May 2019
      • Dr. Frank J. Hayden S.S.
      • Implementation Update - November 14, 2017
      • Implementation Update - September 21, 2017
      • I-STEM
      • Lester B. Pearson H.S./M.M. Robinson H.S.
      • PAR Implementation Update #3 (January, 2018)
      • PAR Implementation Update #4 (March 2018)
      • PAR Implementation Update #5 (June 2018)
      • PAR Implementation Update #6 - November 2018
      • PAR Implementation Update #7 - March 2019
      • Robert Bateman H.S./Burlington Central H.S.
      • Robert Bateman H.S./Nelson H.S.
    • English and FSL Programming 2015-16 (PVC)
    • NE Oakville PARC (PE16B) and Ward 4 Community Consultation
    • SE Oakville PAR (PE14) and Ward 3 Community Consultation
  • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
  • COVID-19
  • Distribution of Materials to Schools
  • Find My Local School
  • Information Technology in Schools
  • Lest we forget
  • Our Schools
  • Register My Child for School
  • Rent School Space
  • School Boundary Reviews
  • School Construction Projects
  • School Enrolments
  • School Hours
  • Secondary School
  • Transfer Schools within the HDSB
  • Transportation
  • Who to Contact

Quick Links

  • Find My Local School
  • Information Technology in Schools
  • Register My Child for School
  • School Listing
  • Transportation

Page Image

Page Content

​According to the Board’s Program and Accommodation Review (PAR) policy, a Program and Accommodation Review is initiated if one of the five conditions listed in the policy are met. Out of the five conditions, two have been met to initiate this PAR. Further details regarding how the conditions were met are available in the Director’s Preliminary Report. As summary of the conditions discussed in the Board Report are provided below:

Condition 1: Low Utilization

Condition 1 states that the school or a group of schools has/have experienced or will experience declining enrolment where On-The-Ground Capacity (OTG) utilization rate is below 65%. Currently two secondary schools in Burlington have utilization rates below 65%, and one school is approaching this threshold. It is projected that all three schools will be below 65% utilization by 2020:

​School​OTG (Building Capacity)​2015 Enrolment​2015 Utilization​2020 Enrolment​2020 Utilization
​Lester B. Pearson HS​642416​65%​​353​55%
​M.M. Robinson HS​1347​730​54%​633​47%
​Robert Bateman HS​1323​799​60%​726​55%

Condition 2: Enhance Secondary Programming and Learning Opportunities

By reorganizing the school and creating larger grade sizes and enrolments, the Halton District School Board can enhance program delivery by offering more courses and a variety of courses using funding that would otherwise be spent on maintaining empty spaces. The benefits of each school type are highlighted in the table below.

​School Type​Benefits
​Small Secondary School (Enrolment of 600 or less)
  • ​Staff tend to know each student better and may be more able to proactively intervene to support a student who is in need of assistance;
  • Extra-Curricular Participation – while the number and types of activities available to students may be fewer in a smaller school, students are more likely to make a team/activity because there are fewer students interested in participating in each team/activity;
  • Higher ratio of service area staff to students - to maintain core functions in the area of Special Education, Guidance and Library, smaller schools have a significantly richer staffing ratio than larger schools. This however comes with increased costs to the Board;
  • Less pressure on the physical space in the building e.g. less scheduling challenges on gym space.
​Large Secondary School (Enrolment of 1000 or more)
  • ​More course options available to students to support different learners, interests and pathways.
  • Fewer scheduling and timetable conflicts - In the 2014/2015 school year, 39% of students at smaller schools had timetable conflicts while at larger schools 19% of students had timetable conflicts. Timetable conflicts often result in students not being able to take a course they had selected because two or more of their selected courses are running in only one semester at the same time.
  • Fewer “shared” students – a shared student is a student that is registered in more than one school. These students register for a course they require/want that is not available in their home school. In 2014/2015 12% of students (234 students) were considered a shared student in small homes schools. 4% of students in a large home school were considered shared students (169 students).
  • Fewer Early Leavers in larger schools – An Early Leaver is a student that leaves school prior to graduating. In 2014/2015 the percentage of early leavers prior to graduation was 1% at large schools and 3% at smaller schools. This in turn affects the graduation rates at high schools.
  • More teacher subject specialization – more classes mean more teachers, therefore it is more likely to get specialized teachers while smaller schools with limited classes have less diversity in staff. For instance in larger schools there may be 4-5 science teachers, a biology specialist, physics specialist , a chemistry specialist and two science generalist, while at a small school there may be only 2 science teachers to teach all science curriculum areas.
  • More opportunities for Extra-Curricular participation – in larger schools there are more staff and thus more opportunity for greater special interests and skills and thus a greater offering of extracurricular activities.
  • More funding for students, less spent on maintaining empty spaces.

 

Board Office

Halton District School Board
J.W. Singleton Education Centre
2050 Guelph Line
Burlington, Ontario, L7P 5A8

Numbers

Phone: 905-335-3663
Fax: 905-335-9802

Links
Email Us
A to Z ServicesAccessibilityContact UsTransportationFeedbackStaffCareers
​​​​​​​​© 2023 Halton District School Board, 2050 Guelph Line, Burlington, ON, Canada L7P 5A8, Phone Switchboard: 905-335-3663

Auto Attendant: 905-335-3665, ​Toll Free: 1-877-618-3456, Fax: 905-335-9802