As student enrollment continues to rise across the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB), the board is actively working to secure additional space for overcrowded schools.
Errol Village Public School in Camlachie is one of those schools in urgent need of expansion. Construction is already underway for a two-classroom addition and a three-room licensed daycare. According to Brian McKay, Associate Director of Corporate Services for the LKDSB, if the project stays on schedule, it is expected to be completed by next spring.
“Errol Village currently has a capacity of 190 students, and we're going to be adding space for 46 more, so the two-classroom addition will bring it up to about 236,” says McKay.
Currently, approximately 288 students are attending the school, necessitating the use of portables to accommodate the overflow.
“That school is bursting at the seams. We're basically running at 150 percent capacity,” says McKay, adding, “Most of the Errol Village kids live in the subdivision to the north of the school, between the school and the lake. It's a small, condensed area where most of the homes are family residences.”
With more families moving into the area, the need for a licensed daycare has become essential, according to McKay. The new childcare facility will offer 49 spaces, helping to alleviate the waitlist on the OneList.
Regarding the decision not to build a new school to address the overcapacity issues, McKay explains that although the area is experiencing growth, it does not yet warrant the construction of a new school with a capacity of 300 to 400 students.
"A new school is a much tougher application, because you really have to have an area where there’s sudden, significant growth—two or three hundred students needing a school—which we tend not to have in Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent,” says McKay.
“That’s what happens in the Toronto area, the GTA. They’ll build large subdivisions in a year or two, and all these families move in. Immediately, you have two, three, four hundred kids that need a school. A new school application is more applicable to areas like the GTA.”
Grand Bend Public School is also overcrowded, currently operating at 111 percent capacity. McKay says LKDSB has submitted an application for funding for a permanent addition, which should reduce the use of portables.
“Before we can apply to the ministry for funding, we need to demonstrate that the portables aren’t just there for a short-term influx of students, but that the student population in the area is growing significantly and will continue to do so,” McKay explains.
Plympton-Wyoming Public School is another in the area seeking funding for an expansion. The school is currently at 108 percent capacity, with projections showing it could reach 133 percent by the 2034-35 school year.
“We likely won’t know about the funding until early spring, since the ministry now has all the applications,” says McKay. “Historically, the number of applications is many times greater than the amount of funding the ministry has available, so it usually takes six-plus months for them to go through the applications and make their decisions. We’re not expecting to hear back until early spring 2025.”
“Our focus right now is on these two schools, and we're crossing our fingers. We think we’ve made strong cases.”