KITCHENER — Payton Streets-Wood, 13, is nervously excited about all she might achieve in high school — if teachers weren't getting in her way.

The Grade 8 student plays soccer and volleyball competitively. She hopes to be accepted into a gifted athlete program at Resurrection Catholic Secondary School.

"It's about building your strength and working hard," she says.

But she faces a hurdle. Her phys-ed teacher refuses to complete a single-page assessment required for the application.

Payton attends Westheights Public School, and public school teachers have collectively decided it's not their job to recommend students for a different board.

"I was kind of disappointed because I thought she would actually help me with my future," Payton says.

Payton's mother is steaming. "I'm extremely disheartened to know that the kids aren't put first, ahead of one board versus another board," Carrie Streets said.

"It really should, bottom line, be about the kids and their opportunities and their future successes, and that obviously is not happening in this scenario. It's just very unfortunate and it needs to change."

The situation illustrates how Ontario's education system works to limit family choice around schooling.

"We can't assess something for which we have no knowledge," said Nick Manning, spokesperson for the Waterloo Region District School Board. "This doesn't change anybody's rights to, in effect, shop between two public boards of education."

Payton is eligible to attend high school at Resurrection (which is open to students of all faith) or Forest Heights Collegiate Institute. Both Kitchener schools are publicly funded.

Streets asked why boards can't co-operate to assess students. "Cross-board collaboration adds a layer of complexity that we don't believe is needed," Manning said.

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board was unable to comment Friday.

Payton has been assured by Resurrection that her teacher's refusal to recommend her won't compromise her application. "I'm still pretty nervous because it's a big part of the application," she said.

She'll also be tested for her fitness and she'll have to meet academic standards.

Lack of co-operation among publicly-funded boards reveals a system that typically tells students which school they must attend unless an exception is made.

"I think there definitely needs to be more flexibility and more choice offered. Parents shouldn't be facing roadblocks when they're asking valid questions about what's best for their child," Streets said. "I think that's what's happening here."

Streets considered family experience, attended an open house, reviewed standardized test results, and assessed facilities and programs.

She concluded that Resurrection is a better high school than Forest Heights and a better fit for her daughter.

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Manning said giving parents full freedom to pick schools would create planning challenges and make students anxious about being rejected by a school that might not have room for them.

"The system that we use now creates confidence," he said. "We expect our schools to be very similar or the same wherever you are in Waterloo Region."