A south-end Barrie school predating the city's massive growth in that area could be getting much more than a new coat of paint if trustees and parents get their wish.
Simcoe County District School Board trustees voted in September to submit a list of 13 “capital priorities” to the Ministry of Education, with Warnica Public School’s replacement with a new building as part of the public board’s “wish list.” The list was submitted to the ministry prior to an Oct. 20 deadline.
During the meeting, trustees described the Warnica Road school — near Yonge Street and Big Point Bay Road — as “an older, smaller school that has a number of accessibility challenges.”
They propose a larger replacement building on the existing site, as a larger school would help accommodation and program pressures. A new building would also be fully accessible.
“The minister (of education) has confirmed that they received over 220 requests with a total price tag of $6 billion,” Jodi Lloyd, board chairperson and Orillia/Ramara/Severn trustee, told BarrieToday in a recent email discussion about the future of the Barrie school.
“The ministry will be taking several months to review these requests,” she added. “We do not anticipate a response until sometime into 2024. The minister of education has not provided a confirmed date to board chairs.”
So trustees will have to wait for the time being on any definite answers.
The aging Warnica school was built in 1964. It started out its life as a five-room school before a six-room addition was added, as well as a multi-purpose room and library, in 1967.
Tara Heska, who's the mother of a Grade 2 student at Warnica, believes older schools have a lot of charm that is missing from newer school buildings.
“I’ve worked in an old school very similar to Warnica,” said Heska, who has also been a caretaker in the York Region school board for the last 10 years. “Warnica seems to be in great shape for its age, but I know that maintaining the older buildings can be quite costly.
"They’re usually not very energy efficient and retrofitting buildings can only go so far,” she added.
Heska believes the clock is ticking down on the Warnica school building, noting the classrooms are also smaller than in newer schools.
“I would much rather see a new upgraded building than see portables added to accommodate growth,” she added.
Trustees said the new building, if and when it comes to fruition, will be a repeat design of a school in Markham, which they did not name.
“As exciting as all this is, it doesn’t mean we’re getting the projects. These are (on) our wish list," Lloyd said at the Sept. 27 board meeting.
She reminded the trustees in attendance that they asked for five projects during a prior ministry request and none of them were granted.
“Every board in the province of Ontario is doing the exact same thing we are,” Lloyd said. “We are competing against every board in the province for the limited amount of capital funding that is available.”
Other Barrie projects on the local board's list of 13 requests include an eight-room, two-storey addition to Emma King Public School on Cundles Road West; a third-storey addition to Ardagh Bluffs Public School on Summerset Drive; and a new elementary school near the Hewitt’s Gate residential development on the north side of Lockhart Drive in the city’s south end.
