Heather Wright/The Independent

Where your child goes to school could be changing in the future.

A consultant’s report the Lambton-Kent District School Board is suggesting the board take a look at the boundaries of all the elementary schools which feed into LCCVI in Petrolia, to use school space more effectively.

Data from Watson and Associates, which completed the annual School Accommodation report for the public board shows there were 22,143 students in Lambton-Kent in 50 elementary schools 12 high schools and two adult-continuing education schools.

About 78 per cent of the available elementary school and 66 per cent of available secondary school space is used right now.

But Watson and Associates expects elementary enrolment to grow 9.2 per cent over the next 10 years and secondary schools to see a 5.6 per cent increase in enrolment.

That will boost the use of elementary schools to 85 per cent and secondary buildings to 70 per cent.
That’s still a lot less than the idea use of school space, which the board and the Ministry of Education peg at between 100 and 110 per cent.

In the past, says Brian McKay, associate director at the board, the board would have considered closing schools, but that option has been off the table since 2017, when the Liberal government put a moratoriums on closures. “The focus has been on, can we wait and hold out till the moratorium lifts? And how many times have we said in this room?…you can only hold on to that hope for so long.”

But, he says, they’re now looking at boundary adjustments.

“I think we have to look at our other tools. And I think that’s only good for our kids and the system.”

While boundary adjustments had in the past been contentious, McKay says colleagues across the province tell him it’s not necessarily the case now.

“If we’re just waiting for school closure and consolidation conversations, these (boundary) conversations, actually, they found, have been more productive because it’s providing data to the communities. It’s working with our school communities with their actual data… to have them help us solve problems,” McKay said.

“Say you’ve got an elementary school that’s sitting at 120 per cent capacity, so it’s bursting at the seams. We have portables, and the school next to it is sitting at 80 per cent capacity, so there’s empty pupil spaces. A simple boundary review…would be adjusting that boundary to move students into the school that has space to free up.

“But there’s a lot of complexities behind that. What does it do to transportation?… We’d have to look from a staffing component, a programming component at that school,” McKay added.
In high growth areas like Plympton-Wyoming, St. Clair, Lambton Shores and Petrolia, the problem is urgent.

Errol Village Public School was built for 190 students. Right now there are 288 pupils, some of which are in portables. Even with the portables, the school is at 152 per cent capacity.

The board is in the process of putting two new classrooms at the Plympton-Wyoming school but even after that, McKay says, it will still need portables.

And, in Plympton-Wyoming, schools are reaching capacity because of growth. McKay says the board might have to look at alternatives.

“We’re talking we may have to build up. We may have to put a second story on that. Can we do that? Because we don’t necessarily have the ability to change boundaries, because Plympton- Wyoming (school) to the south is full. Brights Grove to the west is quite full, and Forest when it opens, the K to 12 will be full.”

There are school communities – like LCCVI and its feeder schools – where boundary adjustment might help.

Ecole Hillcrest and Plympton-Wyoming schools are over capacity where Brigden, Brooke, Centennial, and Queen Elizabeth II are using between 62 per cent and 85 per cent of the schools room. The board approved the idea of a boundary review in Lambton to “balance enrolment among local schools …to optimize available space”

It also will ask the province for a second year in a row to provide cash for an expansion at the Wyoming school. Last year the board asked for a four room addition, this year it will ask to build three extra rooms for 69 students.

In the Great Lakes school family, which includes public schools from the Moore Township portion of St. Clair Township, there is also a wide disparity when it comes to kids in the classroom.

The schools in the core of Sarnia, Hanna Memorial and London Road, use 47 and 65 per cent of the student space now. Bridgeview in Point Edward and Lakeroad school in the north end also have lower capacity rates at 51 and 42 per cent.

But in Sarnia school group, there are at least two schools already at capacity or beyond, like Errol Village.

The board has approved a boundary review of all the Sarnia Schools.

It’s also approved drawing up a plan to align Confederation Central School’s boundaries with Great Lakes’ boundaries. Confederation is expected to be at 129 per cent capacity in 10 years.

And it is asking the Ministry of Education to approve plans for a new 404 student school in Sarnia’s Sherwood Village area which would include child care.

In St. Clair, where there are two very full schools – Sir John Moore – and one that is not, there won’t be a review.

Mooretown-Courtright uses just 31 per cent of its space with only 96 students.

Sir John Moore is at 99 per cent capacity for students with an expectation of enough growth in the next 10 years to increase the school use to 159 per cent.

In south Lambton, where students attend Lambton-Kent Composite School for secondary education, Dawn-Euphemia and Zone Central remain the smallest schools. There are 124 students at Dawn Euphemia using about 48 per cent of the building’s capacity and 100 students at Zone, using 42 per cent of the building’s capacity. The Dresden area school family was expected to be the next in line for consolidation before the province imposed the school closure moratorium. The board had recommend Dawn-Euphemia’s closure.

Today, the board wants to “examine student distribution, sustainability of programs in existing locations…and in the long term, collaborate with community partners and municipalities to develop strategies for using extra space,” according to the report.

In North Lambton, where the board is waiting for approval to build the new JK to 12 school in Forest, the community of Grand Bend is still facing some issues. The school has 265 students but was built for 248. With the growth in Lambton Shores, the board expects the school to be over capacity – 120 per cent full – and is asking for the second year in a row for a five-room addition to the school.

The board accepted the report and its recommendations Jan. 14, but McKay says it will take some time for staff to figure out which school community will be the first to have its boundaries reviewed. When it does, staff will come back to the board for approval of a plan.