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Question #17: If one of my children’s older sibling, attends Wilberforce, and the other Clover Public School, will they be able to play together at recess? Also with the universal bathrooms, is there anything to prevent sexual assaults/misconduct from happening?

Wilberforce PS and Clover PS will not have the flexibility for siblings to play together. They will be staffed and supervised as two separate schools.

The universal washrooms are single use in addition to multi-stalled gendered washrooms.

Question #16: Are the design choices set in stone? The bright yellow pictured in the PowerPoint presentation isn’t conducive to calm learning environments for young students. Educators have been working to tone down the bright colours for years now, especially in Kindergarten classrooms, and it’s disheartening to see that a school board would ignore research on this subject. The yellow furniture inside the learning commons will also get dirty extremely easily.

I would strongly suggest going with a more neutral and calming colour scheme for young children to avoid overstimulation, such as a soft blue or sage green.

Response: The colour palette and furniture shown on the Architects rendering are for conceptual purposes. The colour palette and furniture will be chosen at a later stage in the construction process. 

Question #15: Part of the land purchased includes a beautiful and established forest which according to the plans shared, is going to be bulldozed to create the one way road to the school. This is devastating as despite Wilberforce being built in 2010, we still have not been able to establish actual shade for the students at recess or a nature space for classes to explore, learn from and be educated on. We have done our best over the years to plant small trees and plants with the hope that one day it will help but we now have an opportunity to have an already well established forest, yet no part of that forest is planned to be kept?

My understanding is that the Outdoor Learning space will be a fenced in area attached to the school. I have been in a space like this in the past and although it has some benefits, it is not ideal for teaching children about how to appreciate and respect nature. If even part of the forest was kept through better planning, all students in the school would have a shaded, peaceful, beautiful and natural space to learn about, read in and explore. Kids need to learn that bark is bumpy, that trees can be bigger than 4 feet tall (it takes a very long time for trees to grow big enough for actual shade), that bugs and wildlife actually live and thrive in shaded, lush areas.

How could you change the plans to accommodate this? Can you not move the daycare to the other side of the building past the forest making the forest actually part of our school? Build the one way road way through the trees keeping forest on both sides for community families and students to enjoy? I realize this takes more planning. I realize that it is easier to just bulldoze all of it and start from scratch. I realize the Board is liable for and tries to avoid things that are in this 'bubble wrap our kids' world considered dangerous but can't we start thinking about all of the positive aspects of kids being in actual nature? If would be so nice to teach the kids about how to be safe and enjoy nature while actually in some of it rather than sitting them down on tarmac and showing them pictures of established tress....In this 'video game' obsessed world full of families that don't take their kids outside, these students often don't get any chance to learn about our natural world other than when they are at school, in this fabulous outdoor learning program.

Response: The Ministry of Education has revised the Capital Approval Process for the construction of new schools in order to fast track school openings. This process involves completion of school designs as part of the business case submission. The designs are based off of Ministry of Education design catalogues and incorporates TVDSB standards such as universal washrooms. Part of the design incorporates best practices from past designs and feedback that we obtain on a continuous basis. Particularly for the Kindergarten area, this would be to have this area enclosed with a combination of soft and hard landscaping. 

 As part of our design process we obtained the services of an arborist to complete a tree preservation report. Unfortunately, due to the combination of introduced species, diseases and noxious weeds the trees within the report area were recommended for removal. Our landscape architect is taking this into account as part of the overall design. Our current builds typically include more trees in comparison to past builds, and this will be the case for the New Lucan PS.

Question 14: In the junior and senior kindergarten classrooms, will you be installing preschool sized toilets as opposed to the full-sized toilets that are in the classrooms of Wilberforce Public School? Smaller toilets would be more accessible for smaller children.

Response: The recommendation from the Ministry of Education is to have household-sized toilets within kindergarten and child care spaces to ensure they receive life experience by using toilets like what they use at home, and that they encounter in other washroom facilities.   

Question 13: There is going to be an 88-space child care at the new Lucan school. Will you have appropriate staffing when it opens?

Response: We have a Request for Proposal for a child care operator posted currently with a submission deadline of November 22. One of the criteria is that the operator would provide a viable program for 88 spaces at the new child care centre.  It is recognized that challenges with staffing child care centres is province wide, however we are confident that the successful operator will prioritize staffing.

Question 12: Have you received approval from the Township of Lucan-Biddulph for the site since a new school will mean increased infrastructure requirements?

Response: We have started the site plan approval process with the Township of Lucan-Biddulph and are working through the process. We have had a pre-consultation meeting with municipal staff and preliminary discussions note existing capacity exists for the school with the existing infrastructure.

Question 11: Will there be enough parking spaces at the new school?

Response: The design allows for child care and parking for the new school. However, if more parking is needed, there are other spaces on the property we can extend parking as required.

Question 10:  How much of the forest will have to be removed for the new school (particularly at the spot where the child care building will be found)?

Response: Thames Valley has hired an arborist who will work with us to determine which trees will stay on site. Most trees planted on the site by the previous owner will likely be removed, however as part of our site plan process, we will plant new trees to replace some of the ones removed.

Question 9: When will you choose a daycare provider for the new Lucan school site?

Response:  A TVDSB evaluation committee will review the child care operator submissions, following the submission deadline of November 22, and will post the successful operator and contact information on the TVDSB website.

Question 8: Lucan is rapidly growing. Has there been any consideration regarding enough land at the site to accommodate future growth?

Response: We are cognizant of the growth in Lucan, and we will continue to work with the county and municipality to track development activity so that we are able to put forward business cases to the Ministry of Education when new schools are needed to continue supporting the growth of the community.  

Question 7:  For parents who currently have Before and After school care at Wilberforce Public School, when their children attend the new school, will they still have a spot in Before and After school care or will they have to reapply?

Response: We will work with the successful operator to ensure families needs are met.

Question 6: Will renovations be needed at Wilberforce Public School because of the new Lucan school?

Response: Currently there are no plans to renovate the existing school. We will work with school administration to support the transition of the existing kindergarten rooms into rooms for other grade levels. Work is expected to be minimal.

Question 5: Will there be a playground at the new Lucan school?

Response: The capital funding received for this business case does not include a “traditional” structure playground. Once the school is built, the community will have an opportunity to fundraise for a playground.

Question 4: Why is there a spot for future portables? Why not just build a larger school instead of planning for portables?

Response: We are confident that this school size is adequate for the community. We do have challenges in the submissions we make to the Ministry of Education that allow us to plan for future growth. There’s a space for portables at the new Lucan school in case we need them in the future to accommodate future growth. In our plans, we’ve also set aside space in case an addition to the school is needed.

Question 3: Where is the access point for the portables?

Response: In the back of the school, there is an entrance to provide access to the portables if they are needed.

Question 2: Will children need a field trip form to use the other yard at Wilberforce Public School?

Response: No, we would consider this to be the same property – they aren’t leaving Thames Valley property and therefore they wouldn’t need a field trip form.

Question 1: Has a traffic study been completed for nearby streets to take into consideration additional traffic expected when the new school opens?

Response: Site plan approval conversations with the municipality are underway. Anticipated traffic impacts have been part of those first conversations. As we move through the process, we will address any concerns staff may have.