FERGUS – “I don’t understand why you’re picking our little neighbourhood,” said an exasperated Tracey Mooney, pressing for answers about a proposal for a nearly 500-student high school to be attached to an existing elementary school in Fergus.
She was just one of many who spoke out at an at-times heated public meeting, held jointly by the Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) and consultant planner GSP Group, but all seemed to share Mooney’s thought of this not belonging in their neighbourhood.
About 40 community members filed into Aboyne Hall just after 6 p.m. at the Wellington County Museum and Archives on Tuesday evening to hear what board executives and project consultants had to say about the proposal and to let them know how they feel about it.
The WCDSB has proposed to build a new high school that would be attached to the existing St. Joseph Catholic School, a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school, on Strathallan Street just off St. David Street North in a residential area.
The 68,000 sq. ft. two-storey school would accommodate 492 students, have 21 classrooms, a large sports field and 105 parking spaces.
The school has not been approved for funding from the Ministry of Education and the site still needs to be rezoned at the township level.
Tracy McLennan, WCDSB associate director, said the board currently buses around 400 students from Wellington County down to Guelph for them to attend Catholic high school as there are none in Wellington County.
Those schools are starting to get tight for space. McLennan said in 10 years time, St. James is projected to be close 130 per cent capacity and Our Lady of Lourdes at 120 per cent.
“There is a need for us to provide secondary pupil places in the County of Wellington and we’re hoping to support our families who really want to see that happen,” McLennan said.
Building it would mean losing a large green space at Strathallan Park, which Centre Wellington council approved declaring as surplus to strengthen the board’s application for funding to the Ministry of Education.
This was one of many gripes the audience had with the project as a question and answer period turned into people calling out their concerns, speaking over each other and cutting off the meeting hosts.
“By what standard or what measure that a daily-use park being declared as surplus? It’s mystifying to me,” one man asked.
“People are out there every day walking dogs, playing games with their kids,” another woman added.
“Soccer games,” another said.
The meeting hosts didn’t have an answer for that as this was a township decision. No staff or council members were present at the meeting.
Many were worried about the increased traffic which is already busy and made even more chaotic during drop-off and pick-up time.
“I have literally been put up on to houses, their lawns to avoid being hit, I have had to slam on my brakes to avoid being hit by somebody … and I have been stuck out in the middle of the intersection because parents are parking right down the street to the intersection because parents are parking right down to the intersection in well posted no parking zones,” said Karen Park.
Krystal Vagg spoke for her children who are in Grades 4 and 5 at St. Joseph.
She said they are also concerned about the increased traffic, the loss of their schoolyard and the potential problems of mixing much older children with the elementary school aged students.
“Looking at the impact of vaping, smoking, drug use, sexual experience, we know that increases Grade 6 to 8, will this increase further having this close conduct?” Vagg said.
The meeting hosts stressed the plan is preliminary and they were taking concerns and comments like those back for the more detailed design stage which they said will address the audience’s concerns.
The crowd wanted to know why such a small school there and why not a larger high school somewhere else. Is there any other plan being considered?
The short answer was no.
McLennan said to get approved for funding schools are expected to be operating at capacity in their first year which is why a school this size is proposed and it falls in line with the ministry’s preference to combine existing buildings.
“(The ministry) at this point would not consider a standalone high school,” McLennan said.
