A proposal to spend $3.8 million to expand Errol Village public school near Camlachie has been approved by Ontario’s Ministry of Education.
Plans are to add two classrooms to the school were enrollment is growing, as well as three childcare rooms, said Brian McKay, superintendent of business for the Lambton Kent District school board.
“The new addition at Errol Village public elementary school is great news for our community,” Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey said in a news release.
“This investment will provide choice and flexibility for families and new opportunities for the children of Camlachie,” he said.
McKay said the two new classrooms will “address increasing student enrollment at the school.”
Currently, there is one portable classroom and a second planned at the site on Egremont Road. While the building has a 190-pupil capacity, it’s projected to have 248 students in the fall, McKay said.
“We work with the County of Lambton on childcare needs. . . and they’ve identified a need for the three rooms in that area,” he added.
The two classrooms will increase the building’s capacity by 46 pupils, and the childcare rooms are expected to provide 49 licensed daycare spaces.
“The additional student spaces will greatly benefit the community and enhance access to available childcare for families, which will further support home-to-school connections,” board chairperson Randy Campbell said in the news release.
“We’re happy to get that announcement from the ministry, and now it’s on us to design and build it,” McKay said.
The board plans to work on the “design phase” of the addition over the summer and seek bids from builders in the fall, he said.
“My guess is we’ll probably be in the ground next spring,” and construction is likely to take 10 to 12 months to complete, McKay said.
The school board recently released a 2022 capital plan that notes the local English public school system is facing marginal declining enrollment overall in the coming years.
Total enrollment in its schools for the current school year is 21,572 students but is projected to decline by approximately 308 students by 2032.
The board has said it also expects to break ground in spring 2023 on a new school building in Forest that will be its first kindergarten to Grade 12 school.
The more-than-$27-million project is expected to see a school built with room for more than 1,000 students to replace North Lambton secondary school, Aberarder Central school, Bosanquet Central school and Kinnwood Central school.
Construction is expected to take about two years once it begins.
Earlier this year, the school board completed the purchase of approximately 7.8 hectares (19.5 acres) in Forest next to the Shores Recreation Center for the project.
The province approved $4.7 million in November for the land purchase.