The Ontario government has announced it is providing funding for a new public school in northwest London, a part of the city that continues to see rapid residential growth.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce joined Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek for an online announcement Tuesday morning. They announced that the province is providing $19.5 million for the new school, the site for which has not yet been secured by the Thames Valley District School Board. The new school will have enough space for 802 elementary students. It will also have five child care rooms and 88 child care spaces.
“These are not just investments in bricks and mortar, our government is investing in the future of our children by creating a better learning environment,” said Yurek. “By building and upgrading these schools we are providing students with access to modern classroom settings and the latest technology which will lead to new opportunities and lifelong success.”
The new school will be the second to be built in northwest London in just a few years. The TVDSB opened Sir Arthur Currie Public School in 2017 with 450 students. It was built to accommodate 533 students but currently has over 850. The growth in enrollment has forced the school to use 12 portables, according to TVDSB Chair Arlene Morell.
"And there's more coming. Elementary student enrollment in northwest London is projected to increase substantially for the next several years. So today's announcement is welcome news, indeed," she said.
While Morell welcomed the funding for the new school, it is not officially the board's top priority when it comes to capital projects. Eagle Heights Public School on Oxford Street West in London currently has over a thousand students and several portables. When asked by Jane Sims of the London Free Press why there is provincial money for a new school in northwest London but none at this time for Eagle Heights, TVDSB Director of Education Mark Fisher said the board does plan to address the situation at Eagle Heights.
"I think northwest London is a huge pressure point for us," he said. "We have expanding growth up in that area and the school there is much needed. I think the Ministry has provided us some alternate options to consider to try to alleviate the pressure at Eagle Heights which we will explore and investigate and we are in the process of putting a plan together for the entire city of London to redistribute some of that population."
