Facing opposition from parents concerned about moving Grade 7 and 8 students into a Listowel high school, public school board trustees have decided instead to buy additional portables that will temporarily ease an enrollment crunch in the growing community north of Stratford.
After months of consultation and a pair of deferrals, trustees voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.
The result means Grade 7 and 8 students at North Perth Westfield will stay put for about four to six years. In the meantime, minor boundary adjustments between that school and two others – Listowel Eastdale and Elma Township – will also be used to address enrollment pressures when they come into effect in September 2023.
The Avon Maitland District school board’s acting chairperson, Nancy Rothwell, is also the trustee for North Perth. She said Wednesday the decision “buys us a bit more time” before the board contends with more unpopular options.
“We received a lot of feedback from the community, and they just were anxious about the 7s and 8s,” she said. “I feel like that this gives us some time to continue to look at the census data that is just in, and the … additional subdivisions in North Perth, particularly in Listowel.
“It’s not a one-and-done motion,” Rothwell added. “We’ll continue to monitor that and how it’s affecting the schools (in North Perth).”
Multiple North Perth public schools are struggling to accommodate students as the region’s population continues to grow. Listowel Eastdale, Mornington Central and North Perth Westfield are all over capacity. At the most crowded of the three, Listowel Eastdale, 351 students are learning in a space meant for 297 and some classes are taking place in the school’s library, the board has heard.
In order to come up with solutions, the board established a volunteer North Perth boundary review committee shortly after launching the review process at the end of October. Included in the review were the three Listowel schools, Elma Township, Mornington Central, Milverton public school and North Woods elementary school.
A plan to free up space at North Perth Westfield by moving Grade 7 and 8 students to Listowel District secondary school was recommended by board staff in April. That option would have bought the board about eight years of wiggle room, but trustees ultimately preferred the shorter term option they received from the board a month later.
North Perth Westfield will need around eight to 10 new portables to accommodate its growing student population over the next five years, board superintendent Cheri Carter said. Since Ontario does not allow school boards to use provincial funds to buy portables, the new units will be purchased using operating funds or reserves at an estimated cost of about $180,000 each.
The new portables will push the school’s population to more than 800 students — even larger than many of Avon Maitland’s secondary schools — and require the board to launch another boundary review in four to six years.
The board is already in the process of purchasing portables expected to arrive at North Perth Westfield by September 2023, Carter said.
Roughly a dozen families will be impacted by the future boundary adjustments, Carter said, though that figure is based on data from 2021 and may have changed. Impacted families will be contacted by the board with more information, she added.
Volunteer committee member Carling Buchanan, a Listowel parent with three kids – two at Eastdale and one at Westfield – said Wednesday she expected the board’s decision.
“I think people really want a long-term solution (but) if you’ve been a part of this process all year you would know there really aren’t any,” she said. “We’re just working with the very limited options available.”
Building new schools or additions requires provincial approval that isn’t often granted until other options have been exhausted. Buchanan and others are hoping the increased use of portables in North Perth will convince the province to consider a new build in the region by the time boundaries are reviewed again.
“You can see the flaws in all of the plans,” Buchanan said. “We know that any change that happens is going to be short term. We know that by 2030 we’re going to have to look at this again. Hopefully by then … maybe an addition at (North Perth) Westfield will be an option.”