The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is scheduled to make a final decision in the next several weeks about the latest elementary school review proposal.
The plan that could see Fessenden Elementary School in Ancaster and Queen’s Rangers Elementary School in Copetown shuttered and Hess Street Elementary School merged with Strathcona Elementary in West Hamilton.
Under the current proposal, a new kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school would be built at the Hess Street site.
Todd White, chairman of the board, said he supports a school in the area of Hess Street, but thinks the property poses some challenges.
“There’s no green space to expand should enrollment go up and there’s nowhere for kids to play,” he said.
LISTEN: HWDSB chair and trustee Todd White joins the Bill Kelly Show
White said the board has been dealing with an infrastructure deficit.
“Just back in 2010 we were at rock bottom with some pretty poor conditions,” he said. “The Board had to make some serious planning adjustments, but luckily the funding dollars have been following from the Ministry of Education.”
If this plan doesn’t get provincial funding by spring 2019, the backup recommendation includes closing Hess Street School in June 2019, and sending 95 per cent of the school’s students to Dr. Edgar Davey Elementary School and 5 per cent to Strathcona.
The board will consider the Ancaster and Copetown proposal on May 27 and the West Hamilton plan on June 5.
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