Parents raise concerns of overcrowding at Stoney Creek elementary school

Parents at a Stoney Creek elementary school are raising concerns of overcrowding as they say the relatively new school now has 12 portables on site to accommodate students.

Gavin Boyle has a nine-year-old son who attends Eastdale Elementary School.

He says when the family first moved to the neighbourhood in 2021, they thought a newly built school would be perfect.

However, in recent years portables began popping up and started covering the play area.

“There were no portables the first year, it was either the first three or the first six were added, and then three more last year, and then three more to bring it up to 12 in total… somebody dropped the ball on the size of the school or the population of the kids.” said Boyle.

The old Eastdale building was replaced back in 2018 with the new $11.5 million facility. It was meant to hold 564 students from Eastdale and the nearby Mountain View and Collegiate schools.

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Todd White, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) trustee for wards five and ten, says there are now over 700 students attending the school.

“It’s quite a bit over capacity. This is a pressing problem, in fact, Eastdale has more portable on site than any of our 90 elementary schools across Hamilton.” said White.

“When the ministry provides funding and we actually get the school built, numbers change, so in this case we did see higher than projected enrollment in the school and the cause for that is two-fold; We have seen increased enrollment across our entire system. But Eastdale is also unique in that it hosts our french immersion program for most of east Hamilton and all of Stoney Creek.”

Both Boyle and White agree that the issue is having a direct impact on student experience.

“Socializing with other kids and other classrooms, going down the hallway, running into one another, is eliminated when you’re isolated in the portable the entire day.” said Boyle.

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“Having a dozen portables on your playground is not particularly great for students, you lose a good portion of your playground.” said White.

White says the board is exploring options moving forward.

“We would probably begin with boundary reviews, and adjustments to the french immersion boundary… hopefully we’ll be in a position to offer some solutions in the near future.” he said.

In a statement shared with CHCH News, the Ministry of Education said in part, “School boards have a responsibility to ensure the best utilization of schools to accommodate the always changing number of students in the region. Our government is determined to build new schools faster to accommodate growing communities like Stoney Creek.”