Booming Catholic board goes on $5M portable spending spree
The booming London District Catholic school board is going on a record portable binge to keep up with soaring enrolment, installing 47 of the trailer classrooms at a cost of more than $5 million.
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The booming London District Catholic school board is going on a record portable binge to keep up with soaring enrolment, installing 47 of the trailer classrooms at a cost of more than $5 million.
“The 2024 operation budget underscores the board’s expectation of a surge in enrolment for both elementary and secondary,” board chair Gabe Pizzuti said.
Considered the fastest growing Catholic school board in Ontario, the board expects 1,200 additional students this fall, a 4.6 per cent increase in enrolment, he said.
The numbers highlight the need for a new high school in north London, Pizzuti said.
“We’re going to need to have a discussion in regards to building a new high school.”
There is no more room for portables at St. Andre Bessette secondary school, so Mother Teresa secondary school is getting 12 additional portables, Pizzuti said, adding they will have to transport students to Mother Teresa who normally would attend Bessette.
“It’s not the board’s fault” it has so many portables, Pizzuti said. “We accept our students into our schools and find a spot for them.”
Construction of St. Gabriel elementary school in north London that will open in 2025 and another elementary school scheduled to open in 2027 will provide some relief to the portable situation.
More than 400 pupils will transfer from St. Catherine of Siena elementary school to St. Gabriel.
When the second elementary school in north London is completed in 2027, it will eliminate nine portables from St. Kateri elementary school and three at St. Mark, Pizzuti said.
With the continuing influx of new students, the board will need more teachers, despite a provincewide scarcity.
“The board is going to need to hire hundreds of teachers,” Pizzuti said.
Last month, education director Vince Romeo said the London area board could easily hire 300 teachers immediately onto its occasional list. During the last two years, the board added 1,000 teachers to the 3,400 educators it had two years ago.
Schools in London’s west end and nearby Delaware “are bursting with students,” Romeo said
The board has 26,000 students, up from 24,000 last year, spread out across 43 elementary schools and nine high schools.
During the past five years, the board’s student population has grown 30 per cent, Romeo said.
Last month, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced funding for the London District Catholic school board to build a $20.6-million elementary school in the Kilworth-Komoka area west of London.
The school will have space for 424 pupils and a five-room child-care centre
“This new school will relieve pressure on our existing schools and will also be able to accommodate new students moving into an area that’s experiencing significant residential development,” Romeo said.
“We’ve done our best to maximize space. Right now the only solution is to bring portables in and place them on site where we are able, and continue to request for new schools to be built.”
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@HeatheratLFP
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