The Upper Grand District School board is asking the province for a six-classroom addition for Rickson Ridge Public School in south Guelph.
The official request was made Friday to the Ministry of Education.
It's a new request and the only capital priority submission sent to the province by the board by Friday's deadline for capital requests.
The Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 school was built for a capacity of 490 students. Last year it had 617, utilizing six portables.
This year the school has seven portables and an eighth will be needed next school year, even if the addition is approved, said Ruchika Angrish, manager of planning for UGDSB.
Portables are considered a temporary accommodation. The school has been beyond capacity for the last several years, said Angrish.
Enrolment figures for the 2023/2024 school year won’t be released until later in October.
“When a school's capacity is the number of students it can accommodate assuming that every class is full according to the ministry standard. So every school is built according to the standard and that’s when the on-the-ground capacity is set,” said Angrish.
“If we don’t have the authority to change unless we go through substantial renovations and get ministry approval to change that on-the-ground capacity,” said Angrish.
If the six-classroom addition is approved the non-portable capacity at Rickson Ridge Public School will be 628.
“We may need portables for short term until other capital priorities are considered,” Angrish said in a follow-up email.
When considering capital priorities, the site, number of students and projections are all looked at, she said.
If the addition is approved, then detailed and costing will come later, along with city approvals.
If the Ministry of Education does not approve the addition then “another portable will go up unfortunately,” said Angrish.
The board will find out in the spring if the request was approved. If unsuccessful, the board will make the same request next year.
Angrish said residential growth in the area is going to continue to put pressure on the school's enrolment, Angrish said.
