Three years after school board trustees endorsed a plan to build a new elementary school in Belmont, Ont., the province has given the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) the green light — and the funding — to do just that.
The new $8.7 million, 354-student school will be open in time for the 2023-24 school year, and will see the consolidation of South Dorchester Public School and Westminster Central Public School, according to the province.
According to the TVDSB, portions of the Northdale Central, River Heights, Westminster Central, and Davenport public school attendance areas will also be consolidated into the new school.
Parents and educators had advocated both South Dorchester and Westminster Central schools be closed to bolster Thames Valley’s Belmont proposal for provincial funding through the 2019-20 Capital Priorities program, launched by the Ford government last summer.
It’s not clear yet when construction on the new Belmont school will begin and where.
“After a long four years, numerous public meetings, reams of letters, hours of phone calls, dozens of signs and a 30 foot high well drilling truck display, today’s news is about the students,” said Tory MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, Jeff Yurek, during an announcement Thursday in Belmont’s Confederation Park.
Yurek said the new facility emphasized that schools are “the heart of small communities,” and “are much more than just bricks and mortar.”
That sentiment was echoed by TVDSB Chair and Middlesex County Trustee, Arlene Morell.
“They are community hubs that are the lifeblood of their communities. They’re a nucleus for activities, celebrations and family life. In many cases, schools shape and define community identity and spirit.”
Morell added that the new facility will also mean students will spend less time travelling on the bus, and more time with their loved ones and personal pursuits, something that was also highlighted by TVDSB Vice-Chair and Elgin County Trustee, Meagan Ruddock.
“A school for Belmont was one of my goals from the very beginning. I was met with some skepticism that only made me more determined to get this project off the ground,” Ruddock said.
At a meeting in November, board trustees voted to rescind a previous plan to close New Sarum and Springfield public schools at the end of this month.
The board had voted in May 2017 to close the pair contingent upon provincial funding for the new Belmont and St. Thomas schools.
The TVDSB also sought provincial funding through the Capital Priorities program to build a new elementary school in St. Thomas, Ont. No announcement has been made yet.