Trustees back Waterdown school overcrowding strategy

Set to take effect this September, the strategy assumes the new 500-pupil school can open in 2027 and makes the following interim changes at five schools:

• Allan A. Greenleaf takes all new kindergarten to Grade 8 students living south of Highway 5 who would otherwise go to Mary Hopkins or Flamborough Centre;
• Flamborough Centre’s French immersion program for grades 6 to 8 moves to Guy B. Brown, temporarily turning the former into a K-8 English school;
• Guy B. Brown also takes all grade 5 to 8 French immersion students in the Mary Hopkins and Flamborough Centre catchment boundaries;
• Mary Hopkins drops Grade 5, becoming a K-4 school for English and French immersion students, with Grade 5 English students redirected to Flamborough Centre;
• Flamborough Centre students who wish to attend Balaclava instead of Greenleaf receive special consideration for out-of-catchment applications and will be provided transportation there.

By the 2026-27 school year, the changes are projected to reduce Mary Hopkins’ 10 portable classrooms to three, but add seven portables at Greenleaf for a total of 10, four at Brown for a total of six, and two at Flamborough Centre, which currently has a portapak (multiple portables connected with a hallway).

The strategy stems from a review of boundaries for Mary Hopkins and Flamborough Centre initiated last May and expanded in December to include the other schools.

The school board received feedback on potential solutions from an advisory panel that included parent representatives from the affected schools, as well as from a Jan. 22 public meeting and online surveys.

Senior facilities manager David Anderson said concerns have been raised about adding portables at Greenleaf and Brown, but Mary Hopkins and Flamborough Centre can’t accommodate more students from housing growth south of Highway 5

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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“What we do is attempt to balance the use of temporary accommodations throughout Waterdown,” he told trustees, noting a transition committee will be struck to get input from affected schools and make the changes as smooth as possible.

Anderson said staff will also regularly monitor enrolments and the strategy’s impacts on program delivery, safety, parking and traffic, and make adjustments as needed until the new school opens on land the board acquired in 2021 near the corner of Skinner Road and Mallard Trail.

Graeme Noble, the area’s trustee, said the strategy isn’t perfect, but reflects that “the community really came together” to offer solutions beyond a half-dozen options initially proposed by staff.

He said he appreciates Flamborough Centre students being given the out-of-catchment option to attend Balaclava, where larger class sizes allow for single, rather than split-grade classes.

“I think one of the most interesting things about the proposal that we’re seeing here is that it actually has, I believe, the lowest number of portables versus the other options,” Noble said. “There’s some magic in that.”

Like Noble and others, trustee Todd White congratulated staff for the strategy, which is scheduled to go to the full board on Feb. 26 for final approval, adding that it clearly demonstrates the need for the new school.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an accommodation strategy this complex but the numbers make sense,” he said. “You might need a guide to understand this but the key is that it’s short-term.”