The planned JK to Grade 12 "super school" in Forest will be even larger than initially planned, thanks to an additional $12.4 million in provincial funding.
The Ontario government has now committed a total of $39.8 million toward the project, after recently announcing more money for the facility.
The investment will create 162 more student spaces, for a total of 1,186, and an additional 25 licenced childcare spaces, for a total of 49.
Lambton-Kent District School Board Superintendent of Business Brian McKay said it's a much-needed facility for the community.
"We've been working on this with the Ministry of Education for a while," said McKay. "During our design phase, really what's been happening around our community is there is some subdivision work going on and an influx of students. If we were to consolidate today, the school we're going to build is reflective of the population that we have in our schools currently. So, it's just a great relief that we can have our funding in place to support building a school that meets the needs of that student population."
McKay said the additional funding also helps support increased supply chain costs caused, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The $12.4 million not only covers the additional pupil places, roughly five to seven classrooms throughout the school, but it also reflects the change in the benchmark of our initial award of the application for the school," he said. "So, that is more reflective of the current supply chain and construction benchmarks that we're facing now. It was really great that we were able to get that benchmark funding change applied to the entire school."
McKay said the pandemic has changed their population projections for future student enrollment.
"Many school boards were surprised by the movement of students and families throughout the province, not just us but in a number of boards," he said. "We did see a large influx of students throughout the board and, since we're building the JK to 12 school, it's definitely impacting construction and our student targets at the school. That makes the announcement from the ministry all that much sweeter for us and for our students. I'm so happy that we can build a school right sized for student enrollment."
The state-of-the-art facility will consolidate students from Aberarder Central School, Bosanquet Central School, Kinnwood Central School, and North Lambton Secondary School.
It will be located at 37 Beechwood Ave., directly west of the Shores Recreation Centre in Forest.
McKay said they've wrapped up the public consultation phase surrounding the design of the school.
"Our architects have taken all of that feedback, and we got lots of great feedback from our students, staff, and the public," he said. "They're now in design and tender-building mode. So, the process for tender design should take us through to November or December. We hope to get it out to market to find a general contractor. I would look to bring that to our trustees for approval in February or March of 2024."
McKay anticipates a groundbreaking will take place sometime in the spring of 2024, and construction will likely take about two years to complete.
In a news release, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP and Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said it's important to give children the tools they need to succeed.
"Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is ensuring public schools are focused on teaching young people the critical reading, writing, science and math skills that will prepare them for the rest of their lives,” said MPP McNaughton.
"This investment is fantastic news for our community and will ensure that families and students in Forest have access to world-class learning, close to home, for years to come," McNaughton added.