The status on the proposed new high school can now definitely be changed from proposed to ‘it is happening’. To allay concerns expressed recently, contact was made with the interested parties involved.
In a conversation with Goldie Gharmari, MPP for Carleton, she reiterated, “Per our conversation, I just wanted to confirm that the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board received funding for the Stittsville public high school in 2018. It is now up to the school board and your local trustee to determine when the school is going to be built and when it will be opening. Once again just to confirm the money was given to the school board by the Ministry of Education in 2018”. Goldie sent her link to the her announcement. “Here is also a link to my press release in 2018 confirming that the Ministry of Education transferred the money to the Ottawa Carleton District School Board in order to build the public high school in Stittsville”. https://goldiempp.ca/news/
Glen Gower, Councillor for Ward 6-Stittsville, told Stittsville Central when contacted, that “the school is going to be built, but that the official design has not yet been sent to the City of Ottawa or Planning Committee for their perusal or approval”.
School Trustee, Lynn Scott, of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), who are ultimately responsible for the management of this $37.4M project, responded to our questions on the current status.
She steadfastly confirmed, “I can answer your first question with absolutely no hesitation, and that is to say that planning for the high school is on-going, as the funding has been confirmed and the project is definitely underway”.
When asked who is responsible for the design of the school, Lynn provided, “the school design is being developed by the architectural firm of Edward J Cuhaci & Associates, who have designed a number of schools in the Ottawa area, including several in Stittsville”.
The timeline for the build was questioned and this is some additional information provided this morning – “the project timeline for the new Stittsville high school is on schedule for a 2022 opening. If we can get the school built sooner, we will”.
Lynn also wants to assure everyone that the staff of OCDSB are in pre-consultation with the City of Ottawa staff as they work out some of the design details. Applications for approval have yet to be submitted to the City.
“Building this high school in Stittsville is very important to all of us, and we want to be sure it is built well, to serve the Stittsville community for a long time” added Lynn this morning.
If you have any further questions, Lynn will be attending the public meeting next week (May 23rd) “regarding the attendance boundary for our as-yet-unfunded elementary school in the Blackstone area. I much prefer hearing the feedback directly from the community whenever I can, and I know there will be plenty of questions”.