Catchment areas being adjusted for three local schools

Nov 28, 2025 | 3:21 PM

The local school district is looking to better spread out its student body through changes to the catchment areas.

School District 22’s Board of Education received reports outlining how Hillview Elementary, Vernon Secondary and Ellison Elementary were over crowded, and recommended changing the catchment areas to spread out the students in schools that had more space.

One report said Hillview Elementary had 386 students enrolled for the current school year, but the school was built with an intended capacity of 345 students.

It was stated that Coldstream Elementary had 296 students but the capacity to teach 395 students, and it was recommended the catchment area be adjusted so some students could move from Hillview to Coldstream.

That catchment area change would also affect the local high schools, though the report stated that that could be beneficial.

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Vernon Secondary (VSS) had over 1,100 students enrolled in the school built for 950 this year, whereas Kalamalka Secondary had 696 students but could hold 700. The proposed catchment area change could see those students be redistributed to offset the overcrowding issue.

The report also stated that Vernon Secondary’s student body was expected to grow in the coming years, while Kalamalka’s was expected to decline, and that the catchment change could ease the pressure off VSS.

The catchment boundary change for Hillview and Coldstream elementary schools, and for Vernon and Kalamalka Secondary schools (image courtesy of SD22)

The other SD22 report stated that Ellison Elementary was built for 411 students and had 400 enrolled this year, though the class sizes were expected to grow due to potential development nearby.

Meanwhile, Okanagan Landing Elementary had 271 students enrolled this year in a school built for 322 students, and projected enrollment there was forecasted to remain steady in the coming years.

It was recommend the catchment area for those schools be adjusted so Okanagan Landing could take in more students and address the potential overcrowding issue at Ellison.

The catchment boundary change for the Ellison and Okanagan Landing elementary schools (image courtesy of SD22)

In all of these cases, the students living in the boundary change areas would be given the choice to continue to learn in their current schools, or move to the other school. Siblings of students in those areas would also be able to choose to attend their preferred school when they reach the appropriate ages.

SD22 held public engagement opportunities for the proposed changes, and both were supported by those who provided their input.

Sixty responses were received in relation to the Hillview/Vernon Secondary boundary change, in which 47 people said they strongly support it, and five were in support, while only three opposed and two strongly opposed the plan. There were just five responses to the proposed Ellison catchment change, two of which were in support and three were strongly in support.

SD22’s Board of Education were presented with the catchment change proposals at the meeting on Nov. 19, and voted in favour of making the changes.

The catchment area changes will take effect for student registrations ahead of the 2026-27 school year.

by Liam Verster

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