Board puts priority onnew school in Bradford

Board puts priority onnew school in Bradford

News

By: Kurtis Elsner

The Simcoe County District School Board has outlined part of its plan for new schools.

The Ministry of Education asked the board to review its upcoming capital projects and submit a list of priority schools. The information is used by the ministry to predict funding needs.

On the list are new elementary schools in Bradford and Painswick (south Barrie).

Fred C. Cook Elementary School in Bradford, Frederick Campbell Elementary School in CFB Borden and Barrie Central Collegiate were all listed as prohibitive to repair, meaning they would require large amounts of money to fix.

The board also outlined future projects it has approved, but the ministry hasn’t, including a high school in Angus, an expansion of Bear Creek Secondary School in south Barrie and upgrades to Harriett Todd Public School and Couchiching Heights Public School, both in Orillia and Baxter Central Public School in Essa.

While the province has imposed a deadline for the submissions, some trustees were worried about identifying priorities while the board is in the middle of accommodation reviews.

“I think that we have a number of accommodation review committees currently outstanding and I’d like to see what they come back with, what they say, before they submit their recommendations,” trustee Caroline Smith said.

Several areas in the county are currently undergoing reviews to determine how the current population and future growth will affect school enrollment.

Lou Brandes, associate director and superintendent of facility services, said while the list does not reflect areas that are currently under an accommodation review, the results from the reviews can be submitted at a later date.

“This is an ongoing process and it is data that the ministry uses to project what they need to finance in the future,” he said.

“Any (accommodation review) solutions will be submitted to the ministry as the committees wrap up and make the recommendations. We are allowed to submit those throughout the year.”

All content contained in this or any other yorkregion.com website including but not limited to textual, audio, video and any graphics are copyright 2000-2008 Metroland Media Group Ltd. and can not be used in any part without expressed written permission, with the exception of content in the yorkregion.com Pen & Pixel section, which requires the written consent of the authors.