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Former Quinte Secondary site could go French

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A former Belleville high school building could be coming back to life.

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Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB ) trustees voted unanimously in favour of re-opening the former Quinte Secondary School as a elementary French Immersion facility for students from Belleville, Bayside and Trenton during a special board meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Controller of facility services, Kim Horrigan walked board members through a plan that would see the former Quinte site welcome its first students back into the building in September 2022.

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The plan also calls for the consolidation of the HPEDSB Board Office (Education Centre), William R. Kirk Alternative Education Centre on Palmer Road and the George Umb maintenance building on Bridge Street West.

Horrigan said projections call for between 600 and 700 students from Belleville, Trenton and Bayside to be enrolled in French Immersion in September 2020. She said that number could jump significantly if the program is expanded to include students in kindergarten to Grade 3 in the new facility.

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“A new dedicated French Immersion school could also be expanded to include Kindergarten to Grade 3,” Horrigan explained. “This could occur in a staged approach or could begin as a K-8 French Immersion school. Initial estimates indicate enrolment for a K-8 French Immersion should could be between approximately 850 and 950 students. ”

As a result of a Pupil Accommodation Review, Quinte Secondary was closed at the end of June 2018. The school building is 121,000 square feet and lies on 15.8 acres on College Street in Belleville. It is currently being used to support our community as a COVID-19 assessment centre for Quinte Health Care.

French Immersion is currently only available for students in Grades 4 – 8 in the HPEDSB, at six different schools. There are currently more than 850 students enrolled in the program and the plan calls for expanding tit to include kindergarten to Grade 8. Students from Bayside Public School, Bayside Secondary School elementary (Grades 7 and 8), Harry J. Clarke Public School and Trenton’s Prince Charles Public School would all be moved to the new facility.

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Students in the French programs at Prince Edward Collegiate (elementary) and Madoc Public School would be unaffected.

Director of education Sean Monteith could not contain his enthusiasm when the final vote was cast, pumping his fist.

“In my experience there are two kinds of organizations: those which allow things to happen and are defined by events around them, and those which make things happen and define themselves by confronting their challenges and take advantage of their opportunities. The trustees have given the senior administration a mandate to proceed and bring to life their dream of a renewed HPEDSB. I am proud to be part of it,” he said Sean Monteith.

Monteith said extensive community consultation will occur before final plans are operationalized.

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The plan is also intended to address capacity issues at a number of HPEDSB schools.

Monteith pointed to Harry J. Clarke and Harmony Public School as prime examples.

“I’m a big fan of efficiency projects that are mindful of our priorities (and having) three board offices is not efficient,” he said. “We also have some capacity issues and I have some schools in the Belleville area that are overflowing at the brim and our strategy should not be to continue to pile in portables and try and convince people that’s the right way to go. So what can we do to alleviate those problems. It’s not always the building, sometimes it’s the play space and you can]t tell me putting hundreds of kids in a confined place is good for learning.”

In her report, Horrigan said the Quinte site will need work before hosting students and administrative staff.

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As reported during the 2016-2017 accommodation review final report, the 5 year renewal needs for the former Quinte Secondary School were $13.3M, and it is expected that these renewal costs may have increased since that time,” she said.

Renewal needs for the three administrative sites is estimated to be $8.7 million for the next five years.

She said the building could be ready to begin the 2022 school year.

Board chairwoman Lucille Kyle said she was pleased with the outcome.

“As chair of the board and also as a longer-term trustee, I am proud and inspired by this strategic and inspiring step the board is taking,” she said. “Doing something this big and bold requires taking a risk and takes courage. We, as 10 trustees, are taking this step today.”

The entire report can be viewed at http://www.hpedsb.on.ca

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