Prayers have been answered at Holy Trinity Catholic High School.
York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney was joined by members of the school, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB) and Bradford council to announce $6.8 million in funding for an expansion of Holy Trinity on Friday, May 17.
In addition to the school’s current student population of about 1,044, the expansion is expected to accommodate another 276 students in a two-storey build connected on the east side of the existing building.
“Holy Trinity is such an exceptional school and I want to thank the dedicated teachers and staff for all that they do to teach our young each and every day,” Mulroney said. “Modern schools and access to child care are so important to Ontario families, and students deserve to learn in state-of-the-art modern facilities, and we know that it’s important to get new schools and also expansions to existing schools built quickly in our very fast growing community right here in Bradford.”
She also stressed the importance of learning focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and while board planning, facilities and student transportation services controller Allen Morrison said the new expansion would be all standard classrooms with no specialized spaces, he added that it could mean new opportunities elsewhere in the school.
“Typically whenever we do an addition it’s our opportunity to look at the building itself, so if there are programs that are out of date, it’s a very economical opportunity to get in and touch a few other spaces in order to assist the school with modernization moving forward,” he said, adding the board hasn’t evaluated those options yet.
Local board trustee, Tanya Da Silva, expressed her gratitude to the ministry and everyone who has helped the expansion come closer to reality.
“I am thrilled to share in the excitement,” she said. “We are looking forward to this new chapter in Holy Trinity’s story as we continue to grow and flourish together.”
Principal Michael Borgia was similarly appreciative for the “fantastic opportunity.”
“It’s great for our students and our community to expand and grow and it is needed in this community,” he said.
Board planning and properties manager Christine Hyde said that in Bradford, their student population is expected to grow from 2,624 in 2023 to 3,601 in 2033 for elementary students and from 1,044 to 1,457 over the same time for secondary students.
Morrison remains hopeful that if all goes well, the expansion can be ready sometime in 2026, especially as he noted the cost of tenders is “levelling off,” which could reduce the chance of unexpected jumps in price.
As part of the agenda for the board’s Oct. 18 meeting, the expansion at Holy Trinity was ranked third on the board’s list of five capital priorities for this round of provincial funding after a new elementary school in Essa ranked first and a new Kindergarten-to-Grade-12 school for Wasaga Beach was ranked second.
The province announced $57.7 million in funding for the Wasaga Beach school recently.
When asked about anticipated dates for future capital funding announcements, Mulroney said she couldn’t give a timeline, but said the ministry is “well aware” and “doing everything we can” to bring more schools to Bradford.
“He hears it from from me. Everyday we sit next to each other in the legislature, so he’s aware of our needs,” she said in reference to Minister of Education Stephen Lecce.
Mayor James Leduc and members of council were scheduled to have a meeting with Lecce later in the day to discuss directly the community’s needs, but there was no confirmation on whether or not the results of that would be made public.
Friday’s announcement is part of the $1.3 billion the province announced on April 4 to support the construction and expansion of 60 schools across the province, which is intended to create 27,093 new student spaces and 1,759 child care spaces.
That’s good news for Bradford, because even after seeing three elementary schools open in the last two years (Marshview Public School, Harvest Hills Public School and St. Charles Catholic School), residential development proposals frequently receive comments from both the Catholic and public schools boards warning that there may not be enough space for more students.
To help address the situation, the mayor wrote a letter to Lecce to stress the need for two more elementary schools as well as a new secondary school in Bradford, following a decision from a December 2023 council meeting.
