Chylene Chartier is frustrated by the province’s lack of action to address growing enrollment at her daughter's Penetanguishene school.
“My daughter (Kiera Wheller) is going into Grade 1 this year at Burkevale (Protestant Separate School),” she said. “It is the only school in its board, but has a very good reputation in our area. Enrolment has increased substantially, but the ministry refuses to fund a larger school.”
Chartier says she can’t understand why the Ministry of Education didn’t include Burkevale, which now has 374 students, when it recently unveiled its $500-million list of capital funding projects.
That list outlined the construction of 30 new schools in Ontario — including $11.2 million for a Catholic elementary school in Innisfil's Lefroy community, as well as $5.9 million for a replacement school in Shanty Bay in Oro-Medonte Township — and upgrading 15 others while also creating nearly 900 new licensed child-care spaces.
“Despite their ever-increasing enrolment, they were just turned down, a second year in a row, for increased capital to accommodate their students,” Chartier said. “There is an empty high school in the same town.”
Last December, the Protestant Separate School Board of the Town of Penetanguishene, which runs Burkevale, learned the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) planned to put the former Penetanguishene Secondary School (PSS) up for sale.
The separate board’s trustees voted to then move forward to investigate purchasing the site as a solution to address its growing accommodation concerns.
While Burkevale’s supervisory officer Tim Overholt was away and unavailable for comment this week, MidlandToday obtained a copy of a letter sent to parents following the ministry’s recent decision that's signed by Overholt and board chair Lynne Cousens.
In the letter, they noted a business proposal was developed and sent to the Ministry of Education along with an application to access capital priority funding from the government in order to obtain the required money to purchase the school and make the necessary modifications and upgrades to the building.
“While we waited on the ministry’s decision, trustees approved a motion to move forward with a conditional offer to purchase the school site from the SCDSB. The offer was accepted by the SCDSB on the condition that we received ministry approval.”
But two weeks ago, they learned their request was not approved.
“This was not the news we were anticipating,” the pair wrote, adding they were disappointed in the decision. “As a board, we will continue to advocate for our school community with the hopes of finding other options and voicing our concerns to the government.
“Please be assured, your children will continue to receive an excellent education at Burkevale Protestant Separate School with the presence of a dedicated, professional staff and from a supportive community.”
Burkevale — which traces its story back to the 1880s when it was located in a two-storey, red-brick building — is Ontario’s last remaining Protestant separate school.
According to Chartier, the move to larger confines was a necessity, given the fact that last year the school had to convert its gymnasium into two classes with all the Grade 7 and 8 classes moved there.
“Despite this, and PSS sitting empty the government is again refusing to help,” she said. “Instead, my daughter faces a second year at school without a gym. This is completely unacceptable in normal times, and with COVID-19, this has become complete neglect for the children in our area.”
Locally in Simcoe County, the provincial funding also included $13.5 million for a new 593-pupil elementary school in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
What some like Chartier find most galling, however, is the fact the province approved plans to spend millions of dollars to replace Shanty Bay Public School, north of Barrie, despite the project being the final choice on the Simcoe County District School Board’s capital project wishlist that it submitted last year.
When asked why the Shanty Bay school, which currently has an enrolment of 190 students, was chosen when it was ranked 10th on the public board’s list of priorities, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce acknowledged that Attorney General Doug Downey, who is also the local MPP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, had a hand in bringing it to his attention.
A ministry spokeswoman, meanwhile, didn’t address the Burkevale situation, but instead pointed to the huge number of funding proposals it received.
“Demand for funding through the 2019-20 capital priorities program was significant,” spokeswoman Ingrid Anderson said, pointing out that, altogether, 57 school boards submitted 266 requests for funding consideration for school capital projects valued at $3 billion.
“In addition, 38 school boards submitted 107 requests for child-care capital funding of $196 million for new child-care rooms. The ministry is committed to working collaboratively with school boards on the development of future capital plans, including requests for funding in future rounds of capital priorities," she added.
A former student said he can't understand why the request wasn't granted, given the positive role the school plays in its students' lives.
"The sense of community that is created at Burkevale is unparalled," Willam Docherty said. "The care and attention put into each and every student is beyond what one would think possible.
"Even more than a decade after graduating, I can say that the values and sense of community instilled by my attending Burkevale can still be felt to this day," he added. "The more children that have the ability to pass through these doors, the better for our community."