Rosedale school under construction for 6 years after Ontario halted funding

Parents of students at Rosedale elementary school in east Hamilton say the provincial government has halted funding for the construction of a new gymnasium. The construction of the new gym started in the summer of 2017 and then stopped which caused disruptions to classrooms and other facilities in the building.

Kids and staff have had to work around the disruptions for six years now. Mary and Jeff Watt are the parents of three children at Rosedale Elementary. They say it’s a great school and the plan was for a new gym to make it even better.

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Mary says, “They started construction on a new gym of summer 2017, they built some change rooms. And then they were supposed to start new gym in 2017, the fall. The provincial government halted the funding.” They say the money for the construction stopped and the kids are left with the disruption.

Classrooms were taken away to build the gym and the old library was taken away because the old gym was supposed to be converted into a new library and media room. The remaining library is a little room that’s packed. The school had to build portables because of crowding, and the list of other disruptions goes on.

The parents say as far as they know the school board actually has the money to pay for the construction but the province won’t let the school board spend it. They say the stalemate started about the time the conservative party came to power with their build homes faster plan. Jeff says, “It’s been six years and they can build 30-story condo towers quicker than that.”

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The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) told CHCH News in an email they are, “aware of the gym-related concerns from Rosedale families, and appreciate their advocacy on behalf of students.”

Board chair Dawn Danko wrote in 2021 to the education minister, expressing “a serious concern about decisions” on spending projects, while it was “eagerly awaiting approval” for the Rosedale gym expansion and others.

Parents say nobody in the provincial government appears to be listening, while the kids are missing out on part of their education. Mary says, “They don’t have a library where they can go in and get the joy of reading which is so important when they’re just beginning school.”

The parents also say the province has approved other school-building projects, but not the new gym for Rosedale. CHCH News asked the provincial education department for an interview about this. They acknowledged our request but there was no explanation of why this is happening.