Soon there will be a new JK to grade 12 school near the Kingsville Arena Complex.
The Greater Essex County District School Board said Wednesday it had approved the purchase of 25.1 acres of land south of the arena. The new school will be on a planned extension of Jasperson Drive.
"It will replace three schools, Kingsville District High School, Kingsville Public School, and Jack Minor Public School," announced Board of Trustees Chair Ron LeClair.
Mayor Nelson Santos said the school board considered two or three parcels of land before settling on the one on Jasperson Drive.
Kingsville town councillors had to approve a rezoning amendment for the build on the site of a planned subdivision.
The Ontario Ministry of Education is providing $2.7 million in funding toward the purchase.
Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls told gathered education officials, students, parents, and reporters the funding is part of the Ontario government's plan to invest $13 billion in new schools, renovations and capital projects over the next decade.
LeClair said the work is far from over. The next step will be to approve a design, which must be approved by the board and then the province before contractors are hired.
"A project this size will likely take two years to complete," he explained. "That will take us into 2023, 2024 school year at the earliest."
The board first approved the school in 2016, and Director of Education Erin Kelly acknowledged the long road to this point.
"I think sometimes you need more time than what is actually anticipated, more energy than you had planned, and you have to face more obstacles," she told the crowd. "This is one of those times."
