Board Facing Significant Challenges with North Huron School
The Avon Maitland District School Board and the North Huron Municipal Council are both committed to continue working together on the site details for the proposed new North Huron Elementary School. The Board would like to build the new school next to F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham as it sees this site as supporting broader educational opportunities for our children.
Board Chair Jenny Versteeg
Over the past year the Board has been in negotiations with the Municipality, however, there remain significant challenges that need to be addressed before the shovels break ground. The parties are continuing to negotiate but the Board is facing a time-line that it must respect.
While there is a will to resolve these issues, the Board also faces another significant barrier which is threatening to scuttle the project at the proposed site. Two appeals have been launched with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) objecting to the plan for the site’s development. These appeals will most certainly create additional costs and further delays in completing the necessary legal agreements to move forward toward construction of the new school.
The Avon Maitland District School Board is working with the Community of North Huron with a view to building a new state of the art school on the proposed site. It has become a question of whether the fundamental issues can be resolved and the appeals to the OMB can be addressed without further delay. While continuing down this road the Board is now actively considering alternative locations to build the new school and is prepared to change course should a resolution to the challenges seem unlikely.
Board Chair Jenny Versteeg says, “We have been working very hard to make this happen in a timely fashion. Our original plan, and that of the Ministry of Education, was to open the new North Huron School in September 2011. That time-line has passed given the challenges we are facing in our negotiations and with the appeals to the OMB. In an effort to be prepared for all possible scenarios it is prudent for the Board to consider alternative locations. In concert with North Huron we will try to address the concerns raised in an effort to continue on our current course, but we must also be prepared to take a new direction with this project if necessary.”
For further information please contact:
Steve Howe
Manager of Communications
Avon Maitland District School Board
1-800-592-5437 ext 132 or 519-527-0111 ext 132
Cell: 519-851-6349
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