The Hastings Prince Edward District School Board trustees heard an update on the Quinte Secondary School revitalization at their meeting Monday.
The plans are centered around using the building to create a new, dedicated French immersion school for students in kindergarten to grade eight, and to use the excess space to house school board administration and maintenance staff.
The addition of the new French immersion school would draw students away from Bayside Public School, Bayside Secondary School, Harry J. Clarke and Prince Charles Public School, thus alleviating some capacity issues in area schools. The plans also involve moving staff from the HPEDSB Board Office, Kirk Alternative Education Center, and the George Umb maintenance building into the former Quinte Secondary School in order to free up other buildings and to centralize the school board staff.
Due to the fact that French immersion students make up more than 50% of enrolment at Bayside Public School, a pupil accommodation review would be required for the project however the Ministry of Education currently has a moratorium on all accommodation reviews.
Monday’s meeting provided an update on the plans for the school including early cost analysis as well as preliminary plans for what the school may look like.
Controller of Facility Services Kim Horrigan broke down some of the expected costs.
“Projected annual transportation would increase by approximately $400,000 t0 $900,000 and as well there is projected to be a $320,000 increase in operational costs.”
The total estimated capital cost for the project is $20 million.
Horrigan then detailed some of the renovations that have been proposed for the new school.
“The proposed design and renovations, based on the projected enrolment, include 40 classrooms to accommodate those students. The academic component of the building would include the main office, the existing large main gym, a new learning commons and ancillary uses such as washrooms, staff room et cetera.”
Current enrolment projections are approximately 850 to 950 students.
The report confirmed that the school board does have enough money to fund the project, however permission from the Ministry of Education would be required in order to access money from the capital fund.
The former Quinte Secondary School is currently being used as a COVID-19 assessment site by Quinte Health Care until June.
