Elgin Street school faces major renovations if provincial funding comes through.
Elgin Street Public School could see some much-needed, large-scale renovations by 2015 if the Ministry of Education approves plans by Ottawa’s largest school board.
The resizing and reconstruction of Elgin are part of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s list of funding priorities for the next five years submitted to the Ontario government.
The board is now asking for more than $150 million from the province to build new schools and refurbish older ones to ease the upcoming pressure of all-day kindergarten and current overcrowding issues around the city.
In addition to Elgin’s resizing, the board is proposing “major facility renewal and rejuvenation” for five other Ottawa schools along with the construction of six new elementary schools district-wide and one secondary school in Stittsville. Viscount Alexander Public School in Sandy Hill and Steve Maclean Public School in Gloucester would also receive permanent additions.
In earlier reports, board staff had said the Elgin expansion project would lead to elementary school space being closed in Centretown. This has since been removed from the project description.
“We haven’t yet had any discussion on closures and whether we’d like to see more smaller elementary schools stay in Centretown or move to one larger one,” says Jennifer McKenzie, board chair and trustee for Somerset-Kitchissippi. “It’s way too early to be even thinking about closures.”
The board is considering repairing Elgin’s deteriorating foundation as a main part of the project.
Albert Galpin, co-chair of the Elgin Street Public School parents’ council, says the school’s been having problems with its foundation for years.
“They’ve been trying to fix it. They do a bit of work on it year after year but it’s short term and not very cost effective this way.”
Overall, it’s a “huge vote of confidence” that the board is making an investment in Elgin, says Galpin.
“There’s great attributes about Elgin. It’s small for one thing, with only about 260 students, so the teachers know all the kids. Parents don’t want to lose that atmosphere,” he says.
“It’s also the closest school to Parliament and other downtown attractions so it’s important to keep it viable.”
When Lynn Scott, trustee for Rural West, was first elected to the board in 1994, she was told the board was 10 years behind in terms of funding for new schools, major renovations and so forth, she said at a recent board meeting.
“When I look at this list it seems we are still 10 years behind. Our students need schools that work for them as places where they can learn without having to be overcrowded, without having to endure dingy basement washrooms, and without being deprived of some of the amenities that support a 21st century curriculum.”
There are many lingering questions about the details of the projects. Galpin says he wonders what the board exactly means by “consolidating” Elgin.
“Are they going to move the Grade 7 and 8s in?” he asks.
School boards are required to submit their capital priorities to the ministry on an annual basis and this year the ministry has announced there is a limited pool of $120 million available.
McKenzie says by late spring the board should find out how much funding the province is going to extend.