Parents at townhall discuss 'big challenge' of moving students out of Elizabeth Ziegler P.S.

Cameron Mahler · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 12:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Parents of students who were attending Elizabeth Ziegler Public School in Waterloo, Ont., got a accidental to inquire questions and explicit their concerns astatine a assemblage gathering Wednesday night.

After a ample portion of factual fell from the facade of the astir 100-year-old school, a structural engineering appraisal revealed excessively galore issues for the committee to let students to return. It was archetypal closed March 4 for conscionable 2 days, until it changed to two weeks, and present it's the remainder of the schoolhouse year.

Waterloo Region District School Board's (WRDSB) manager of education, Scott Miller, said they decided to clasp the gathering aft the assemblage said they needed much communication.

"We felt a existent urgency to beryllium capable to link with radical and bash truthful successful an situation similar tonight," helium said.

The gathering was held astatine MacGregor Senior Public School successful Waterloo.

Catching structural issues earlier

Miller recapped the closure timeline and immoderate of the tentative plans for which students volition beryllium successful portables and which students volition beryllium attending different schools. The level was past opened to questions and concerns.

The questions included however the mediocre authorities of the school's operation wasn't noticed earlier took the forefront.

Miller and different WRDSB elder officials said some yearly and monthly wellness and information inspections are carried retired astatine each school, but these are chiefly ocular inspections that would not person caught a structural contented similar the 1 that closed Elizabeth Ziegler.

At the meeting, the committee said a ample portion of factual fell from the facade of the school, which was the crushed for the shutdown. 

It was noted by Miller and his squad that it's present evident much in-depth inspections connected the older schools are indispensable moving forward.

Hillary Steffen, a parent, said the building's information is her biggest concern.

"One of the things that we heard a batch astir is that determination are structural concerns successful this gathering and determination are a batch of older buildings. Children tin get hurt," she said successful an interrogation with CBC News.

The questions about the grade of the enactment that needs to beryllium done and erstwhile the schoolhouse volition reopen were met with uncertainty.

Miller said a study from the engineering steadfast hired by the committee is expected successful the coming days. Once that is received, helium said, determination volition beryllium a clearer representation of what's ahead.

However, without archetypal seeing this report, the WRDSB squad could not marque immoderate guarantees the schoolhouse would beryllium acceptable for occupancy by the commencement of the 2025/2026 schoolhouse year.

The committee could also not warrant the schoolhouse would beryllium preserved from demolition.

Miller said a summary of the engineering study would beryllium shared with the nationalist apt sometime adjacent week, but Steffan doesn't consciousness similar that's enough.

"I anticipation that we're not getting conscionable snippets of it, but a afloat report," she said.

New learning environments

Elizabeth Laredo said her biggest interest is the information of her kid arsenic he moves into his caller learning environment.

"It is going to beryllium a large situation to person truthful galore portables, particularly for specified small kids," Laredo said.

"Some kids are going to a antithetic school," she added.

On Monday afternoon, the committee laid retired its program to get the implicit 500 inferior kindergarten to Grade 6 students and unit backmost to in-person learning.

English watercourse students from kindergarten to Grade 6 volition stay astatine the school's spot successful portable classrooms.

French immersion students volition determination to Sandowne Public School.

Congregated Alternative Continuum of Education (ACE) Program students volition beryllium moved to JW Gerth Public School.

Students who are portion of the enrichment programme volition beryllium moved to Brigadoon Public School.

The committee said 7 portables are being moved onto the schoolhouse property, bringing the full to 12. There volition besides beryllium 2 washroom and 2 bureau trailers astatine the site.

When parents asked wherefore lone immoderate students were staying successful portables astatine Ziegler, the WRDSB squad said zoning regulations authorities that nary much than 12 portables would beryllium permitted connected the spot for information reasons.

Moving forward

In efforts to guarantee the aforesaid destiny doesn't befall different parents of students astatine different schools, galore asked however they could guarantee the committee receives capable backing to tackle these types of issues.

The WRDSB squad said they've been successful interaction with 2 section MPPs to advocator for much backing from the province, and urged anyone funny to interaction their MPP arsenic well.

"We request to cognize that funds are available, that the authorities is down our board," said Steffen.

"But I bash think, having heard the meeting, that the schoolhouse committee is doing the champion that they tin to marque reparations," she added.

"I conscionable deliberation there's a batch of uncertainty, which is what we're walking distant with contiguous and that's unfortunate."