February 23, 2024 - The Upper Canada District School Board is pleased to share that the Ministry of Education has provided additional funding for Swift Waters Elementary School that will keep the project on budget and ensure it opens for students in September 2024.
The total additional funding of $998,876 will cover costs associated with development of the property that have arisen since the project was initially funded and tendered.
“It’s not uncommon for unique site costs to come up when building a new school,” explains Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Superintendent of Business. “We always carefully plan for what we know when we first seek funding, but during the time the proposal goes in to when shovels are in the ground, things can change.”
For example, at Swift Waters specifically, changes to below grade seismic building codes, unknown below grade rocks and removal of excess site soil are some of the unique site costs that have been identified.
“We are appreciative to the Ministry of Education for this additional funding and their dedication to enhancing the educational facilities in this community,” adds Augusta-Brockville (Ward 5) Trustee Michel LaBonté.
“I want to thank Minister Lecce for his continued support of the construction of Swift Waters Elementary School,” says Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. “I remain committed to working on behalf of the families I represent to ensure this project is completed on time and that students in my community begin the new school year in this beautiful, state-of-the-art facility.”
Swift Waters Elementary School will bring together students from Commonwealth Public School and Toniata Public School once those two locations close at the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
The school will be a single-story building and have the capacity for 504 students. The UCDSB expects to have approximately 440 students enrolled at the school on opening.
The school will feature 17 regular classrooms, four Kindergarten rooms, a large gym and learning commons, in addition to several green initiatives including solar panels and electric car charging stations. There will be three dedicated EarlyON rooms, which will provide programming for families and children from birth to 6 years old, and four dedicated child care rooms with 64 child care spaces.
“We are determined to build schools and expansions faster, part of our commitment to modernize schools in fast growing communities," says Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. "We are proud to deliver a new, state-of-the-art Swift Waters Elementary School for Brockville families, along with increasing funding, staffing and a back-to-basics focus on reading, writing and math skills to help ensure students graduate with confidence that they can succeed in good-paying careers."
For media inquiries, contact:
April Scott-Clarke
Manager of Communications
Upper Canada District School Board
[email protected]