BRANTFORD Brantford’s first new high school in 30 years will be built in the north end of the city after Minister of Education Stephen Lecce announced $45.7 million in provincial funding for the project on Tuesday afternoon.
The new school will be part of the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board with an emphasis on the 1,100-student facility being a skilled trades center that will also accommodate 128 licensed child care spots.
“We’re busting at the seams,” a delighted Catholic board chair Rick Petrella said at the announcement, outlining how both Assumption College School and St. John’s College are operating well beyond capacity.
Petrella said a city-owned site has been selected and the board will shortly submit a proposal to purchase the property.
“Once that’s done we can be in the planning phase by summer and hope to break ground in the spring.”
Lecce said Petrella and MPP Will Bouma approached him six months ago about the need for a new school, urging him to consider a facility that would keep talented young people in the community.
“The government doesn’t normally move that fast,” Lecce said, “but we got it done and I’m really proud of that.”
Bouma said he feels the project will “directly impact every single Brantford family”.
Mayor Kevin Davis welcomed the “great news” noting how critical it is that Brantford “manage the growth” it’s currently experiencing and more growth that’s coming.
“It’s a fact of life,” Davis said. “We’re in the fastest growing urban area in North America now and you can pretend it’s not going to happen but it’s happening. If ignored, every major infrastructure, including schools, will be overwhelmed.”
The principals of the city’s current two Catholic high schools attended the announcement and welcomed the news of the project.
Assumption principal Humberto Cacilhas said his Shellard Lane school currently has 19 portables on site, could use at least four more and is expected to need even more of the mini-buildings by next year.
St. John’s principal Darren Duff said his school currently has nine portables but the growth in the Paris area is feeding into the Paris Road school and pushing enrollment as more families move to the area.
The funding for the new school is part of a provincial investment of nearly $500 million recently announced to build and repair schools by investing in 37 school projects and 23 child-care spaces.
The $500 million investment will create 15,700 new student spaces around the province and about 1,500 new licensed child-care spaces in schools.
But Lecce said the Brantford school is the “single largest investment” Ontario will make in the province this year in its capital building program.
“Out of all the projects we identified, this was our most pressing priority and we made it happen.”
Lecce said the $45.7 million announcement is far from an election goodie.
“We’ve been busy for four years and I’ve been in the community many times for announcement projects.”
In October, the minister announced a $16.2 million investment in a new elementary school for the Grand Erie District School Board in the southwest area where the existing schools are also overcapacity. That project will feature a city-operated library and a community centre.
Responding to questions about the backlog of necessary school repairs, which has been placed at more than $16 billion, Lecce said the Ford government has been following the recommendation of the auditor general to put 2.5 per cent, or $1.3 billion a year, into work on mainly older schools, including a massive lift in ventilation upgrades during the pandemic where schools with ventilation systems were upgraded and schools without such systems got HEPA filter coverage.
“Our priority is just improving the life of children in this community,” Lecce said.
“We want to de-couple the politics because families just want to see their kids in a decent school.”
@EXPSGamble