With schools bulging at the seams, the London District Catholic School Board is set to submit its priority list to the provincial government for a half-dozen new builds.
This includes two new schools in St. Thomas. Debbie Jordan, a board superintendent outlines details of a proposed elementary school for the city.
If approved by the province, the school would open for students in 2027. The other priority is a new high school for St. Thomas.
Jordan, a board superintendent tells myFM details of the high school plus the expansion at St. Anne’s Catholic Elementary School.
The board now has 26,000 students with an enrollment increase of four to five per cent expected in 2024
Jordan details the process involved in working with the Ministry of Education on funding applications.
She adds it is a reflection on the number of families now moving into the school board’s catchment area.
In November of 2021, then Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek announced provincial dollars for a permanent expansion of St. Anne’s, which opened in 2009.
At the time, Bill Hall, vice-chairman of the London District Catholic School Board trustees stated the obvious when he noted, with 14 portables, “St. Anne’s is bursting with students.”
