GUELPH – The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) has set the boundary for the new elementary school set to open in Fergus in September.
Boundaries have also been confirmed for Elora and Salem Public Schools, which will be impacted by the Fergus school.
UGDSB trustees voted to approve the new boundaries during a board meeting on Feb. 25.
Members of the public were invited to delegate during the meeting, but no one took the opportunity and the boundary passed without discussion.
The boundary for the new Fergus school will include the Storybrook and Beatty Hollow subdivisions and extends out to St. David Street from Sideroad 19 to the neighbourhood northwest of Sideroad 18, as well as Millage Lane, Burnett Court and Victoria Crescent.
As of this September, students in junior kindergarten through to Grade 7 who live within this boundary will attend the new school in Fergus.
Students living within the boundary who are set to start Grade 8 in September will remain at Elora Public School for their final year.
Younger siblings of these Grade 8 students will have the option of attending either Elora Public School or the new Fergus school for the 2025-26 school year.
As of September 2026, all UGDSB students in junior kindergarten through to Grade 8 who live within the boundary will attend the new school in Fergus.
Getting to school
Most students attending the new school will live less than 1.6km away, which means many will walk to school. For students in kindergarten through Grade 6, busses are offered for those who live more than 1.6km away.
For Grade 7 and 8 students, busses are only offered to those living more than 3.2km from the school. Everyone in the new boundary is less than 3.2km from the school, so busses will not be offered to Grade 7 and 8 students.
UGDSB officials are in conversation with Centre Wellington staff, who have initiated studies to consider adding sidewalks along roads that students will walk along to get to school, and identifying safe routes for students.
Before-, after-school care
UGDSB staff have made a call out for providers to offer before- and after-school care at the new school.
However, those programs depend on external service providers’ ability to create and staff programs.
Salem and Elora Public Schools both currently offer before- and after-school programming.
If a program is not available at the new school, students in the new school’s boundary will not be allowed to attend Salem or Elora Public Schools in order to continue attending before- or after-school care.
This is because, while some UGDSB schools are open to applications for out-of-area attendance, the schools in Elora and Salem are both closed to such registrations.
Public feedback
The board released a survey late last year about the boundary options and held a public information session on Nov. 27.
About 80 people responded to the survey and about 30 attended the public information session.
Four different boundary options were identified, ranging from limiting the new school to just the Storybrook and Beatty Hollow subdivisions to expanding it to include everything in the now approved option and stretching out to include the area between Colborne Street and the Grand River, from Beatty Line to the Elora Quarry Conservation Area.
The most popular option with the public was very similar to the option that was eventually approved, but without the neighbourhood northwest of Sideroad 18.
About 23 per cent of respondents preferred the option eventually chosen by the board.
UGDSB planning manager Ruchika Angrish said the boundary review committee recommended this option because it provides the best balance of projected enrolment compared with capacity at the new school and at current schools in Salem and Elora over the next eight years.
