Elizabeth Ziegler Public School in Waterloo to remain closed for next school year, WRDSB says

Kate Bueckert · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 8:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 18 minutes ago

Elizabeth Ziegler Public School in Waterloo volition beryllium closed for the 2025-26 schoolhouse twelvemonth implicit information concerns with the building.

The schoolhouse was closed to unit and students connected March 4 when a ample portion of factual fell from the facade of the astir 100-year-old school.

The Waterloo Region District School Board past extended the closure to 2 weeks, past until the extremity of June.

On Tuesday morning, arsenic students were preparing to instrumentality to in-person learning successful portables connected the schoolhouse grounds, manager of acquisition Scott Miller told CBC K-W's The Morning Edition the schoolhouse would not unfastened this fall, either. He said that comes aft receiving an engineering appraisal of the school.

"We did person an interim study which, arsenic we shared astatine the assemblage meeting, was we were no longer going to person occupancy of the school," helium said.

"In addition, and we've besides shared with the community, that we won't person occupancy for adjacent twelvemonth either. We are looking and finalizing plans for adjacent twelvemonth and hoping to pass that successful the adjacent future."

Portables and moving students

During a assemblage gathering past month, Miller and different elder officials with the schoolhouse committee said some yearly and monthly wellness and information inspections are carried retired astatine each school, but these are chiefly ocular inspections that would not person caught a structural contented similar the 1 that closed Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.

In the meantime, immoderate students and unit person returned to the schoolhouse grounds, but learning volition instrumentality spot successful portables. English watercourse students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 are successful the portables. Washrooms and offices are besides successful portables connected site.

For students not returning to the school:

• French immersion students person been moved to Sandowne Public School.
• Congregated Alternative Continuum of Education (or ACE) Program students person been moved to JW Gerth Public School.
• Students who are portion of the enrichment programme moved to Brigadoon Public School.

"We've truly been trying to perceive to unit and surely our parents and families and their feedback was whatever we could do under these unfortunate circumstances was to support the students together," helium said.

"That's truly what we've been striving to do. And it's not ideal, but surely being capable to person a bully fractional of the schoolhouse present attending astatine Elizabeth Ziegler and the different fractional astatine Sandowne, we've been trying to bash our champion to bash that."

Next steps

Miller said arsenic for the aboriginal of the schoolhouse gathering itself, it's unclear what needs to hap adjacent and they're inactive waiting for answers. The committee has hired an designer and an further technologist to look astatine the practice building. As they bash that work, helium says it volition beryllium different 4 to six weeks earlier they person answers connected however to determination forward.

"We're looking astatine each options close present  and bringing in some different radical to assistance consult and look astatine those things volition assistance springiness america a amended representation of, of what the adjacent steps volition be," Miller said.

"Now we're going to look astatine immoderate different options for adjacent year," helium added, noting the portable concern works for 3 months, but it's not ideal.

"We're conscionable grateful the mode that unit has engaged successful and supported this work. Also, surely for our students and our families, this is thing that we feel we tin negociate for a abbreviated play of time, but it's not a agelong word solution," helium said.

"We volition beryllium looking astatine at further ways to accommodate adjacent twelvemonth and, again, with those aforesaid priorities, trying to support the schoolhouse assemblage unneurotic and ensuring that we bash everything imaginable to perceive to assemblage feedback to beryllium capable to bash that."