At the August Council meeting, Council responded to a request from the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPRDSB) Manager of Planning Services Jeannette Thompson to provide a letter of support for their capital request for a new elementary school in Millbrook.
The board is requesting approval for the construction of an elementary school on property earmarked for the institution in the Towerhill North subdivision on a 5.5 acre site within the draft approved plan of subdivision.
The Ministry of Education provides capital funding to school boards across the province to address the boards’ highest priority capital needs. The Ministry has recently launched its 2024-25 Capital Priorities Program which will establish which projects proceed and which remain on the back burner. This is application will be KPRDSB’s third attempt to receive funding for an elementary school in Millbrook.
As KPRDSB parents know too well, there is a pressing need for more classrooms in the township. The Ministry of Education operates under a policy that it will not provide funding for new schools or additions to existing ones until existing school spaces nearby are full. Because some schools in Peterborough are operating below capacity, the board has been investigating ways to fill those spots in order to qualify for a new school.
Last April, the board held an information session for public school parents and students in the Peterborough area to present options for addressing enrolment pressures, outlining four “rebalancing” scenarios that would reallocate students to fill capacity in schools located in town and alleviate enrollment pressures in schools on the outskirts of town.
Enrolment growth in Cavan Monaghan is one of the key drivers behind this initiative. To address rising enrolment at Millbrook South Cavan (MSC), a significant addition was built in 2017. By 2020, the space was no longer adequate so MSC students in grades seven and eight were relocated to Crestwood. Despite these changes, the board’s Background Report indicated that the building currently operates at 131% of capacity, with enrolment projected to stretch to 156% of capacity in ten years. The school currently uses eight classroom portables and has capacity for four more, but even those will not be adequate to house the 267 elementary students who are expected to move into the four new subdivisions that are underway.
Things are not much better at North Cavan, where the 10-year enrolment growth indicates an anticipated school utilization rate above 145%. This school currently has four portables, which is the limit. Active developments within in this school boundary are expected to bring 92 more students.
Given the projected enrolment growth reflected in the board’s own report, it is likely that Millbrook will eventually receive a new elementary school at the Towerhill North location. Once approved, a project of this nature is usually completed within two years. This is cold comfort to students, teachers and parents who face crowding and/or disruption to their school experience.
The letter of endorsement refers to the school site and reinforces the existing capacity pressures on both local elementary schools. It also explains that the Township’s Growth Management Study indicates that housing growth is expected to remain strong in the Millbrook Urban Settlement area over the next five to ten years, with new residential units increasing at an annual rate of 120 compared to the historical rate of 24 units per year over the last fifteen years.
In the meantime, the second community engagement event is tentatively scheduled for September 28th from 5pm to 8pm at Kenner Collegiate, where Board representatives will outline revisions to the original proposals or perhaps introduce new ones that have emerged through community consultation.
A final staff report will be presented to the Board for final approval in December, and transition plans to implement the selected strategy in the fall of 2025. KG