Ancaster school shed and its contents destroyed by fire

Arson is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed a school storage shed and its contents Thursday night.

The shed was full of educational toys and equipment for kindergarten students at Rousseau Elementary in Ancaster.

“Lots of different things we use for outdoor learning, Rousseau has an outstanding outside learning program, so there were some tricycles, building materials that the children use that were damaged as well.”

Principal John Gris says damage is estimated at $10,000, which is below the board’s insurance deductible. He doesn’t know yet what the plan is to replace the shed and it’s contents.

Anthony Nicholl has a daughter in the junior kindergarten program at Rousseau. On the weekend he started a GoFund me page to raise $2000 dollars for the school.

There are about 70 kindergarten students at Rousseau who used the toys in the shed everyday, even in the winter