Rockwood Centennial Public School and Centre Peel Public School are new additions to the underutilized category this year in the Upper Grand District School Board’s (UGDSB) “elementary identified schools” report.
On June 27 the board received the 2017-18 “identified schools” report for both elementary and high schools, which helps trustees gain a longer-term perspective on enrolment issues in area schools and evaluate where other reviews are necessary.
The annual reports compare projected enrolment figures and the overall student capacities. Each school is then identified as overcapacity, underutilized or neither for the next school year.
Overcrowded schools have a utilization rate of 110 per cent or higher and underutilized schools have a utilization rate of 80% or lower.
Elementary schools
However, this year’s calculation method is different from previous years.
“Several OTG (on the ground) capacities have changed since the 2016-17 Elementary Identified Schools Report,” the elementary report stated. “Over the past year, staff has undertaken a review of school floor plans, which has resulted in adjustments to some school OTG capacities.”
Some school structures that were considered semi-permanent, such as kinderpaks and ecopacks are now considered to be part of the permanent school capacity.
For 2017-18 it’s projected that 14% (9) of the UGDSB elementary schools will be overcrowded and 32% (21) will be underutilized.
“Over half of the underutilized schools fall within the 70 to 80% utilization range,” the report states.
“Several schools have the potential for enrolment growth from within their school boundaries or as a result of growth from development area assignments.”
Last year there were 14 underutilized elementary schools. Wellington County schools listed among the seven new additions to the 2017-18 list are Rockwood Centennial at 77% utilization and Centre Peel Public School at 72%.
The overall student capacity at Rockwood Centennial increased because a special education room was converted to a classroom.
Last year it was projected Centre Peel Public School would be overutilized, but enrolment was “much lower than originally projected and is expected to decline further in 2017-18,” the report states.
“Enrolment at Centre Peel PS can be variable due to the educational options in the area.”
In addition to the seven new underutilized schools, those remaining from last year include the following county schools: Eramosa Public School (72%), Alma Public School (71%), Kenilworth Public School (62%), Erin Public School (51%) and Ross R. MacKay Public School (45%).
Erin Public School is scheduled to be used for “purpose built childcare.”
“Once this facility is constructed, the space will be removed from the OTG and utilization at the school will improve,” the report states.
High schools
Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston and Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest are projected to be underutilized next year.
The projected utilization rate for Norwell is 68% and for Wellington Heights it is 74%. The report states that both schools are projected to remain underutilized from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
This is the fifth year in a row Norwell is included in the underutilized category, despite Centre Peel Secondary School students joining the population in September 2016. There are more than 200 vacant spaces.
“It may be appropriate for staff to review the potential for partnership opportunities at Norwell DSS in the fall of 2017,” the report states.
Enrolment is also projected to decline at Centre Wellington District High School, which could result in underutilization by 2019-20, the report states.
In total 18% (2) of the UGDSB high schools are projected to be overcrowded, 18% (2) are projected to be undercrowded and 64% (7) are projected to be neither.
Other county schools are neither overcrowded nor underutilized.
