4 District School Board - County of Simcoe
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F4 Simcoe County
District School Board
April 30, 2018
Warden Gerry Marshall
County of Simcoe
1110 Highway 26
Midhurst, ON L9X 1N6
Dear Warden and County Council,
Thank you for your letter dated April 24, 2018. The Simcoe County District School Board
(SCDSB) enjoys a strong working relationship with the County of Simcoe and we value our well-
established partnerships as you acknowledge in your letter. As a valued partner, we feel it
prudent to provide the Warden and County Council with accurate information in response to the
assertions made by the Mayor of the Town of Wasaga Beach.
Prior to the County Council Committee of the Whole meeting on April 10, 2018, the Mayor of the
Town of Wasaga Beach sent an email requesting your support for a secondary school in
Wasaga Beach. The SCDSB acknowledges that a future secondary school in Wasaga Beach
will be needed. When we have a strong business case, and the data to support it, we will put
forward a request for funding for a secondary school to the Ministry of Education for
consideration. This Ministry recently provided the SCDSB with funding for an elementary school
in Wasaga Beach. It is our belief that, as the elementary students progress through the system,
the SCDSB will be better positioned to submit a justifiable business case for a secondary
school.
It is extremely important to understand the context in which school boards are funded for capital
priorities. School boards are not permitted to self-fund new schools and additions. On an annual
basis, school boards are invited to submit business cases to the Ministry of Education for
consideration, based on a very specific set of eligibility criteria. In the last request from the
Ministry, the SCDSB could only submit the top ten urgent and pressing priorities for the whole of
Simcoe County. These capital projects were required to address enrolment requirements no
later than the 2020-2021 school year. In order to be eligible for funding, projects also had to
meet one or more of the following category descriptions:
1. Enrolment Pressure: Projects will accommodate pupils where enrolment is currently or is
projected to persistently exceed capacity at a school or within a group of schools, and
students are currently housed in non-permanent space (e.g. portables).
2. School Consolidations: Projects that support the reduction of excess capacity in order to
decrease operating and renewal costs and address renewal need backlogs.
3. Facility Condition: Projects will replace schools that have higher renewal needs than the
cost of constructing an appropriately sized new facility.
Simcoe County District School Board- www.scdsb.on.ca 117Q Hwy 26- Midhurst, ON — LSX 1N6 705-728-7570
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4. French-language Accommodation: Projects will provide access to French-language
facilities where demographics warrant. Such projects will only be considered eligible if
the school board can demonstrate that there is a sufficient French-language population
not being served by an existing French-language school facility.
Further information regarding the Ministry of Education’s request for capital priorities
submissions can be found here: https://efis.fma.csc.gov.on.calfaab/MemoslB2Ol7/B07 EN.pdf.
In an effort to provide further transparency and clarification, following are the facts as they relate
to each of the seven statements made in the email from Mayor Brian Smith.
Mayor’s Statement:
1) Currently Wasaga Beach is the largest community in Ontario without an existing or planned
high schooL We have 760 high school aged children that are bussed out of our community
to neighbouring high schools. In addition, the SCDSB has indicated that they are prepared
to begin bussing our youn gest children out of our community to neighbouring elementary
schools due to an “unforeseen” urgent accommodation pressure.
Board Response:
• The SCDSB may only consider English public students in the planning process.
• The SCDSB cannot make presumptions regarding the intentions of students and families
who attend the Catholic, French Catholic, French Public, Protestant Boards and Private
Schools.
• Of the 760 students in Wasaga Beach, 577 are classified as English public; 477 attend
Collingwood Collegiate Institute, 10 attend Stayner Collegiate Institute, 64 attend
Elmvale District High School and 26 attend other SCDSB schools or programs, such as
the Simcoe Alternative Secondary School or Learning Centres.
• The SCDSB does not currently bus elementary school students in regular programs out
of Wasaga Beach. As is common practice throughout the board, students who attend
specialized programs may be transported to other schools where programming is
offered. There are 45 Grade 6-8 Extended French as a Second Language students from
Wasaga Beach who attend Admiral Collingwood Elementary School as part of that
specialized program.
Mayor’s Statement:
2) The Town of Wasaga Beach is the second fastest growing community in Simcoe County
with a current population of 21,000 people. Our community currently has the numbers to
support a Grade 7-12 school to immediately solve our urgent accommodation pressures at
the elementary level while establishing a high school that is an essential building block for
the future of our community. We also have a zoned and approved site for a secondary
school that can be brought online in shod order (currently the only zoned and approved site
for an elementary school will come online in five to seven years).
Board Response:
• Elementary accommodation pressures have been addressed with the approval of a new
elementary school.
• The SCDSB has publicly stated that the need for a secondary school is foreseen;
however, there is disagreement on the timing of needs within the context of the board’s
funding model.
Simcoe County District School Board www.scd5b.on.ca 1170 Hwy 26- Midhurst, ON
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• The SCDSB does have a designated secondary school site within Wasaga Beach, which
confirms the board does foresee a future need.
• SCDSB staff have begun early due diligence on the site and will take the necessary
steps to acquire a site when satisfied of the correct location, size, condition and
characteristics.
• Significant discussion needs to occur in relation to potential community partnership
opportunities before determination of a site is finalized. The SCDSB does not take site
acquisition lightly, as it is an extremely significant use of public dollars and an action that
should not be rushed into without proper due diligence.
Mayor’s Statement:
3) The Town of Wasaaa Beach has a higher growth rate (17.9%) than all three of our
neighbouring communities with high schools including Midland, Penetanguishene and
Collingwood. Our population has already surpassed Midland and Penetanguishene, and is
projected to surpass Collingwood. Our accommodation pressures am being driven by
population growth and other factors including:
• the County’s current focus on creating affordable housing and placing families in
Wasaga Beach,
• a new catchment ama policy at Base Borden, which now permits miitarj families
posted to Base Borden to locate in Wasaga Beach, and
• trends such as the influx of new families from higher-cost towns and cities such as
Innisfil and Barrie.
Board Response:
• The SCDSB is aware of population growth, demographic trends and policy that impact
Wasaga Beach and other communities in Simcoe County. While these rates of growth
and demographic shifts have had tremendous impacts on many communities, other
factors must be considered in the context of capital priorities and their urgency. For
example, Wasaga Beach’s 65÷ population is 33.4% (among the highest in Canada),
whereas the County is 18%. Secondary pupil yields from new housing in the Wasaga
area are currently approximately 0.05 pupils per unit. That represents approximately 50
public secondary students per 1000 units. The yield drops significantly in higher density
units. Other areas of the County, particularly to the south, are seeing pupil yields
exceeding 0.1 pupils per unit. The ramifications of this are that it takes significantly more
units in the Wasaga area to generate the same number of pupils as elsewhere, This is
not to say a need for a future school does not exist, it indicates there are other factors
aside from growth rates that impact timing of needs.
Mayor’s Statement:
4) At the end of September 2017, Wasaga Beach has exceeded its 2017 pro/ections for
building permits and new units expected to come online: At year-end we will have a total of
300 new residential units. In 2018, the town is projecting another 300 new residential starts
(this is a conservative projection). As well, there is a growing trend towards medium and
high density permits as aging boomers move out of larger or single-detached homes into
smaller units, making more space for new families.
Board Response:
• Board staff track and reconcile permits and incorporate them into our growth and
projection models. SCDSB projections are evidence-based, and utilize approved policy
Simcoe County District School Board- www,scdsb.on.ca -1170 Hwy 26- Midhurst, ON — L9X 1N6 7D5.7287570
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and provincial allocations. As alluded to in the response to point #3, demographics and
pupil yields, as well as rates of development and occupancy, all impact how many
students are generated from the associated building permits.
Mayor’s Statement:
5) The Town of Wasaqa Beach has attempted for an extensive amount of time to meet with
and work with the SCDSB to review this data and propose an alternative scenario to deal
with the growing accommodation needs in our community. Unfortunately our efforts and
attempts to engage the SCDSB in an open and collaborative dialogue have not been
successful, despite the Premier becoming involved in August 2017 and the Ministry of
Education becoming involved on September 12th, 2017.
Board Response:
Board staff have met on several occasions with Mayor Smith, Council members, Town
staff and High School Task Force representatives. Data has been provided on numerous
occasions at the request of Town staff and the High School Task Force and was also
provided to Altus, the Town’s consultant. We are of the opinion that significant dialogue
has occurred over the years and both parties have agreed the need for a future school
exists. The parties do not agree, however, on the timing of when a business case should
be submitted for the Ministry of Education’s consideration. The fact that there has been
disagreement on some issues does not make the collaboration successful or
unsuccessful. The SCDSB has been transparent and hopes that discussions have
provided greater awareness of the board and Ministry processes, urgent needs the
board has elsewhere and constraints it operates under. It should also be noted that
dialogue has opened the door for potential partnership opportunities at the soon to be
built elementary school, and considered in a future secondary school.
Mayor’s Statement:
6) In October2017, out of frustration, the Town asked the Ministry of Education to request that
the SCDSB submit a business case fora Grade 7-12 scenario, with a phased-in approach,
to see how it stacks up against the Board’s current proposal for a new elementary school in
Wasaga Beach. To date, it has not been considered nor has the SCDSB been open to
discussing this scenario with the Town of Wasaga Beach. We made this request through
the Minister’s Office because the Trustee that was appointed by the SCDSB to represent
Wasaga Beach has not demonstrated any interest or actions to move this forward on our
behalf at the Board level. It is also the Town’s belief that the Ministry has an important role
to play in considering how crucial a high school is in terms of our town’s efforts to develop
into a more complete community, in accordance with the Provincial Growth Plan.
Board Response:
• The SCDSB examines various options when considering Capital Priorities. As outlined,
these discussions have occurred with the Town at various times in the past.
• The SCDSB does support complete community policies within the Growth Plan. It is,
however, not appropriate to put the onus of community development on a single school
board when the school board’s mandate is focused on education. Currently, students
within Wasaga Beach have high quality educational opportunities available from five
school boards, with an additional public elementary school in the planning phase. A
future public secondary school is also envisioned at the appropriate time.
Simcoe County District School Board www.scdsbonca- 1170 Hwy 26- Midhurst, ON
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The trustee for Wasaga Beach, Township of Tiny and Midland, who was a former
Chairperson of the Board, agrees with the current course of action given his extensive
experience and knowledge of the capital planning process.
Mayor’s Statement:
7) On January 26th, 2018 the Minister of Education responded to my request, on behalf of the
Town and Council of Wasaga Beach, and stated clearly that she can see the incredible rate
of growth in Wasaga Beach and the need for a secondary school. To that end, she
announced that the Ministry is prepared to provide the SCDSB with provincial funding to
purchase the currently designated site for a high school in Wasaga Beach, as soon as it is
ready. Furthermore, she requested that the Town and the Board work together in an open
and collaborative manner to plan for a future high school.
Board Response:
• As has been discussed previously, provincial legislation sets out that decisions regarding
pupil accommodation are the responsibility of locally-elected school boards. As such, the
Ministry does not direct specific accommodation proposals from boards.
In closing, we look forward to a secondary school in Wasaga Beach and the opportunity for
coflaborative discussions at the appropriate time as we move through the SCDSB’s established
planning process. The SCDSB does have a designated secondary school site within Wasaga
Beach, which confirms the board does foresee a future need.
We cannot state strongly enough how much we continue to value the effective working
relationship we have with the County of Simcoe. As a partner, we appreciate this opportunity to
provide the Warden and County Council with accurate information as it pertains to the business
of the Simcoe County District School Board regarding Wasaga Beach and a future secondary
school.
Sincerely,
a ‘-----
Peter Beacock
Chairperson, SCDSB
c: Indira Naidoo-Harris, Minister of Education
SCDSB, Trustees
Steve Blake, Director of Education, SCDSB
Mayor Brian Smith, Town of Wasaga Beach
Members of Wasaga Beach Council
George Vadeboncoeur, CAD, Town of Wasaga Beach
Mark Aitken, CAD, County of Simcoe
Simcoe County District School Board wwwscdsb.on.ca 1170 Hwy 26- Midhurst, ON
- . — L9X 1N6 705-728-7570
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