GUELPH – The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) is expecting to confirm the boundary for the new elementary school in Fergus at a board meeting on Feb. 25.
Members of the public are invited to delegate during the meeting.
The new school, expected to house 328 students in kindergarten through Grade 8, is currently under construction in the Storybrook subdivision in Fergus. It is set to open in September.
About 30 people attended a public information session about the boundary options on Nov. 27, which included a question and answer session and a chance for people to provide feedback.
A survey about the boundary options, open from Nov. 18 to Dec. 8, received 80 responses.
During a finance and facilities committee meeting on Jan. 21, UGDSB planning manager Ruchika Angrish reviewed common themes of the public feedback.
They included before- and after-school care, “grandparenting,” programming such as French immersion and extracurriculars, busing and walkability (including traffic, sidewalks and crossing major intersections).
Boundary options
The review identified four different boundary options, ranging from smallest to largest, for the new school.
The first option includes the Storybrook and Beatty Hollow subdivisions but does not include any area northeast of Beatty Line or southwest of Colborne Street.
Option two includes the area in the first option and also extends out to St. David Street from Sideroad 18 to Sideroad 19, as well as Millage Lane, Burnett Court and Victoria Crescent.
The second option was the most popular with the public, with nearly 40 per cent of respondents expressing a preference for it.
The third option includes all of option two, but extends to include the neighbourhood northwest of Sideroad 18. This is the option UGDSB staff is recommending to the board.
The fourth option includes all of option three, plus the area between Colborne Street and the Grand River, from Beatty Line to the Elora Quarry Conservation Area.
Public feedback ranked option one as the second most popular, with about a third of the votes; next is option three with about 23%. Option four was the least popular, with 8%.
Option three
Angrish said the boundary review committee is recommending option three because it provides the best balance of projected enrolment compared with capacity at the new school and at current schools in Salem and Elora over the next eight years.
It would be expected to bring the new school close to capacity by 2027, whereas with options one and two enrolment is not expected to reach capacity before 2033. With option four it is projected to be at almost 120% capacity by 2030.
This option “removes the pressure from Elora and Salem without completely depleting their enrolment,” Angrish said.
Relieving this pressure creates space at Elora and Salem to accommodate new development planned within their boundaries in the coming years.
Option three “keeps the neighbourhoods together, allowing students that live close to one another to attend the (same) school,” she added.
It’s also an advantage to include the students northeast of Beatty Line, otherwise they would pass the new school on their way to Salem.
Option three offers “high potential for walkability,” Angrish said, which decreases busing needs.
Most students would be within 1.6km of the school, which is the maximum walking distance for students in kindergarten through Grade 6. All students within the boundary would be within 3.2km, the maximum walking distance for Grade 7 and 8 students.
‘Grandparenting’
The boundary review committee is recommending that Grade 8 students be “grandparented” at Elora Public School for the 2025-26 school year.
This means students currently attending Grade 7 at Elora Public School would remain in Elora for Grade 8, with the new school initially opening up for only kindergarten through Grade 7. This impacts between 20 and 30 students. The school would expand to include Grade 8 students in September 2026.
Angrish said this is consistent with previous UGDSB practices.
The committee is recommending younger siblings of the grandparented Grade 8s be given the option to remain at Elora Public School during the 2025-26 school year.
After September 2026, the committee recommends all students within the new school’s boundary attend the new school.
Grade 7, 8
According to the boundary review report, staff considered expanding Salem Public School to include Grade 7 and 8, but found “the facility is not sized to accommodate a Grade 7 and 8 program due to its small gymnasium, library, hallways and offices.”
It also notes Salem is expected to face its own enrolment pressure in the future.
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