Even before Summerside school opens, the board is applying to expand it

In November, CBC News reported that rapid growth would mean a brand new school set to serve the southeast London community of Summerside would open with portables on Day 1. 

That's still true, when students walk through the doors for the first time next week the new $14-million school on Meadowgate Boulevard will have 12 portables on site. 

But even before the first student walks through the door, the overcapacity issues at Summerside Public School are so pressing that the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) director of education, Mark Fisher, has already applied to the province to expand the school. 

He admits it's an unusual situation, but said the area's rapid growth means Summerside needs more room to accommodate about 300 new students. 

"It seems strange to parents and people outside the community that a brand new school would open with 12 portables," he said. "It was approved in 2018 and the way that process works is you're approved for what the projections are at that time and really nobody could have predicted the global pandemic or the migration into the City of London from the GTA."

Summerside is currently designed for 550 students. And Fisher said the new portables aren't like the bare-bones portables of old. These new ones have air conditioning and are more like a regular classroom. 

Application to expand not approved

The TVDSB submitted an application to the province to expand Summerside in February, but it was not approved.  The addition would allow Summerside to accept about 200 to 300 more students — capacity that's needed as the subdivisions surrounding the school continue to add new single-family homes. 

"We will certainly resubmit this year and often that's what happens as you submit these proposals a couple of times before they're finally approved," he said. "But we're certainly hopeful that that will be approved during this year's round of capital planning project submissions."

Fisher said the board is doing its best to keep up with London's rapid growth, but admitted it's a challenge. 

"The school district had 10 years of flat or declining enrolment. Over the last three years, our enrolment has gone up steadily but over the last 12 months, it's taken off like a rocket ship."

Bittersweet for parents

Rob Gubesch has mixed feelings about the situation at Summerside P.S. On one hand, he's elated his daughter will start Grade 5 in a "beautiful" brand new school and will no longer have to bus from their home in Summerside to Tweedsmuir P.S. On the other hand, he said it's too bad the new school will be over capacity on its first day. 

"I had no idea the portables were going to be there and that many, it's just an absolute sea of portables," he said. "It's taken over the whole play area, the kids have no playground." 

Gubesch isn't sure whether or not his daughter will be in a portable when she starts at the new school. 

"We're just going to show up and go with it," he said. "I just don't think portables are a good place to learn."

Process to approve new schools takes time

In order to get a school build approved, schools have to prove to the province the new school will be at or above capacity on opening day. Critics have said this is flawed, and leads to schools being overcrowded before they even open. 

Fisher said speeding up the approval process for new schools would also help. It often takes up to five years for new school applications to be approved, again often making them arrive too late to absorb the new growth. 

The board is carrying out an attendance review to tweak school boundaries and cut down on crowding in fast-growing areas of London.