Saugeen Shores is looking to the provincial government for more public school space.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau said in an update to council Monday evening, he has written a second letter to the Minister of Education to renew the Town’s advocacy for more elementary school space, “As soon as possible.”
Charbonneau is asking the Ministry to meet and work with the public school board and the Town, noting he brought up the community’s growth two years ago, at the 2020 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference, where he informed the ministry that municipal projections show by 2031, existing schools in the Town of Saugeen Shores will, “fall far short of meeting the needs of our anticipated student population.”
Charbonneau writes, “More than two years have passed since my delegation at ROMA 2020 and, in that time, I have seen no evidence of progress toward addressing the elementary school space needs of the Town of Saugeen Shores, even though we are growing significantly.”
Saugeen Shores has two public elementary schools, Northport Elementary and Port Elgin Saugeen Central.
Saugeen District Senior School is the lone high school in the town which includes Port Elgin and Southampton, and grade seven and eight students have already be relocated to it.
The statistic Charbonneau presents predict the school-aged population will be 2,702 students by 2031. In his 2020 letter, Charbonneau noted local public school capacity is 2,500 students.
He says in his 2022 letter, “A worsening lack of available school space could become a significant impediment to the continued growth and success of Saugeen Shores and the broader region.”
He notes, the town’s capacity to accommodate the families of those working on Bruce Power’s Major Component Replacement project is, “A matter of local, regional, and provincial significance.”
Charbonneau adds, “Insufficient school space in Saugeen Shores could jeopardize the ability of Bruce Power and its suppliers to recruit the talented workforce they need to carry out one of the largest infrastructure projects in Ontario today.”
He presents Statistics Canada Population figures, noting the five-year population growth rates were: 11.2 per cent from 2006-2011, and 8.3 per cent from 2011-2016; then 16 per cent from 2016-2021.
He also notes, “The number of younger adults and children in Saugeen Shores has each grown by nearly 30 per cent in the last five years.”
Among other statistics highlighted by Charbonneau in his letter, he notes from 2016-2021, the number of people aged 0-14
grew by 27.8 per cent.
Charbonneau also copied the letter, for their information, to MPP Lisa Thompson, members of Town council and the Bluewater School Board, as well as Bruce Power President & CEO Mike Rencheck.
