The design and budget for a new $23-million elementary school in Tecumseh has been approved by the Greater Essex County District School Board.
New North Shore Public School will replace D.M. Eagle School which is slated for closure.
The new school will be located on nearly six acres of land on Tecumseh Rd. E. near Arlington Blvd. less than a kilometre away from the current D.M. Eagle School.
Trustee Julia Burgess says she likes what she sees.
"Every time we build a new school it's build it and they will come. I know that we are looking forward to welcoming everybody," says Burgess. "It's a very tight site, there's not a lot of extra room, so I'm glad there's two floors, a smaller footprint, etc."
Trustee Alicia Higgison says the community is happy with the plan.
"D.M. Eagle is one of the schools that I represent and they are quite happy and quite pleased for many, many reasons," she says. "One, it is a stones throw from the current D.M. Eagle and it is a family there and they are quite happy to have it continuously in the neighbourhood and to have it close to the park that they go and the library that they go to and all those things."
Higgison says, due to the escalating costs of building materials, the project is $2.2-million over budget, but administration is confident that can be mitigated.
"We know from our report and probably from our own lives that pricing on building materials, pricing on almost anything is really rapidly rising in terms of being able to budget appropriately for what our students need and deserve," she adds.
The new school will house 651 students and will feature more than 30 classrooms, a double gym and childcare facility.
If all goes to plan, construction will begin in February 2022 with a goal of having the building ready for the 2023 school year.