Province approves millions to expand Simcoe school

At 76 years old, Elgin Avenue Public School in Simcoe needs major upgrades. Planned renovations include an accessible entrance and elevator. 

J.P. Antonacci

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Long-awaited renovations to a 76-year-old Simcoe elementary school should pick up steam now that the province has signed off on the project.

Elgin Avenue Public School has been closed since July, with work crews removing asbestos while the Grand Erie District School Board waited for Ministry of Education approval for a 17,000-square-foot addition.

The new space will include four classrooms - including two Kindergarten rooms - next to a child-care and EarlyON centre, along with an accessible entrance and elevator, and extensive indoor upgrades.

On Oct. 8, the ministry gave the board the go-ahead and committed just over $12 million toward the total projected cost of $18.7 million.

The construction tender is expected to go out this month, with work to begin in February.

“Almost every square foot of the existing building will be renovated or enhanced,” Grand Erie superintendent Rafal Wyszynski told trustees in a report at the Oct. 28 meeting.

“This is an exciting time for us,” Director of Education JoAnna Roberto said.

“We’re pleased, and also want to extend our thanks to the communities for their patience.”

Roberto noted the long “evolution of this project,” which had its start in a 2016 decision to merge Elgin and nearby West Lynn Public School due to declining enrolment at both schools.

In September, Elgin’s approximately 270 students moved about three kilometres down the road to West Lynn to ride out the renovations.

Board chair Susan Gibson expressed trustees’ gratitude to the province.

“Through the support from the ministry, amazing schools like Elgin Avenue Public School are revitalized to build a culture of learning, well-being and belonging for students and staff,” Gibson said in a press release.

Grand Erie will contribute $6.7 million to the project, drawing on two funds earmarked for school construction and dipping into reserves to cover the balance.

“There may be future cost risks associated with tendering and construction that may require a further use of these reserves,” Wyszynski cautioned.

The projected cost has already risen steeply, with Wyszynski telling trustees in November 2023 the work would cost $13 to $15 million.

And the work has already been delayed by six months. The board’s plan was to have construction completed in time for Elgin to reopen next September. Under the current timeline, all students from both schools will move into the expanded Elgin building after March break in 2026, at which point West Lynn would be closed.

Cordie Jagt, parent of three West Lynn students, said she is glad the renovation work will go ahead, but is dismayed - though not surprised - to learn the supposedly year-long solution to cram both student bodies into West Lynn will stretch into a second school year.

“Even though we knew it was inevitable, it’s still a tough pill to swallow,” said Jagt.

“Two months in already feels like an eternity with how things are going, so how can we possibly get another year like this in?”

Portables were brought in to accommodate the influx of new students, keeping class sizes within ministry guidelines. But with every inch of classroom space used for teaching, Jagt said there is no room for educational assistants to work one-on-one with students - leaving behavioural problems to affect the rest of the class - and teachers must prepare their lessons in the noisy staff room.

“Just very overcrowded. It feels like there’s no room for anything,” Jagt said.

On top of the challenge of merging two school cultures, Jagt has heard of a rise in bullying, and students using inappropriate language “on a daily basis.”

“You have double the kids, so there’s going to be double the problems happening,” she said.

“But there’s just no time, and not enough staff, to deal with all these things. My impression is everyone’s just in survival mode.”

Jagt is among a group of parents who argue the school board should revisit its 2016 plan to combine West Lynn and Elgin.

Those parents would like to see both schools renovated and kept open because enrolment at West Lynn is already ahead of the board’s “outdated” projections and more young families are moving to Simcoe.

But Jagt said the school’s administration has said the plan is still for the entire population to transfer to Elgin once the renovation is finished.

A Grand Erie spokesperson stated the board’s enrolment projections indicate students from both schools will fit comfortably in the renovated Elgin building for the next decade.

J.P. Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.