The Halton Catholic District School Board has submitted a proposal to temporarily change the Catholic Elementary School at 675 Kennedy Circle West into a Secondary School for 1 year (with potential to be extended). This site will be a secondary school until construction of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Secondary School is completed.

This proposal directly impacts the neighbourhood's best interests because:

• Many households were purchased by families with elementary-aged children. They had intended to use this school due to it's close proximity to their new homes. 
• The elementary school plan was to accomodate 671 students - these students will now have to find a school outside of their neighbourhood.
• The neighbourhood would lose the 5-room childcare centre that was to be included with the elementary school plan. This childcare centre was to accomodate up to 88 children.
• The proposal also reduces available parking from 4 parking spaces per classroom to 2.43 spaces per classroom. This would impact street parking and backed up traffic in the neighbourhood.
• The secondary school would likely not be a one-two year plan as construction on St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Secondary School has not even begun. This secondary school’s construction is crucial to housing students and reducing displacement of the elementary-aged children. It is difficult to commit to this temporary agreement as development has not even begun that was supposed to start in 2021.

The temporary proposal was submitted to find a new home for Secondary School students who are currently displaced due to delays in the construction of their new school. Unfortunately, this temporary proposal actually takes one problem (displaced Secondary Students) and turns it into three:

1. High school students are still without a permanent home.
2. Current Elementary-aged students, as well as those that are about to enroll, will continue to be displaced outside their neighbourhood to accommodate for the temporary secondary school proposal.
3. The neighbourhood will lose the planned daycare centre (for up to 88 children) that was part of the elementary school plans. Many families depend on this program being available in the neighbourhood.

We need the Town of Milton and the Halton Catholic District School Board to hear our concerns and put a stop to this temporary application.

The school at this location should be completed and opened as an Elementary School as initially planned. The new families in the area feel that they were not considered when making this application.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• Sign this petition. We will be sending the list of names to the Town of Milton and the Halton Catholic District School Board.
• Email your feedback. Send a brief quick email to taylor.wellings@milton.ca and mike.cluett@milton.ca that voices how this decision impacts your family. Your feedback should be accepted as public record, and will be presented anonymously once a meeting is determined to discuss the proposal.
• Show up (if possible). The town will be setting up a public forum at some point in the near future to allow people to voice their concerns. It is unclear if this will be postponed or modified due to the Coronavirus pandemic and public restrictions.
• SPREAD THE WORD. Tell your neighbours about the temporary proposal and how it impacts you. You would be surprised that many homes in the area did not receive a letter in the mail informing them of this change. The more people that are opposed to the change - the better!

Strength can be found in numbers to save our Elementary School!