Elementary students displaced from school to return to temporary classrooms

A nearly 100-year-old school in Waterloo needs extensive repairs and will remain closed for the remainder of the school year, but its students will continue learning in different classrooms.

Students and parents at Elizabeth Ziegler Public School now have a timeline for when and where more than 500 students will go back.

By April 1, all students at elementary school will be back in classrooms, either in portables on school property or at other schools around Waterloo Region.

Elizabeth Ziegler PS was forced to close at the beginning of March after a sizeable chunk of concrete fell from the school’s façade, unveiling a list of structural and electrical shortcomings that need to be repaired or replaced.

“There is structural damage within the school, it is going to take some time to fix it,” said Scott Miller, director of education for the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB). “We’ve stated publicly that the school will remain closed for the remainder of the school year, we just don’t know the extent at this time, and are hoping to get a final report later this week.”

All of those students are still learning at home on remote devices for the rest of this month, either on their own electronic devices or through Chromebooks provided by the school board.

The WRDSB is bringing in portable classrooms for students in Grades K to 6. Twelve portables will be installed on school property for the remainder of the year.

Students in French Immersion will be commuting to Sandowne PS in Waterloo. Those students will be bussed to Sandowne from their current school and then dropped off at the same spot at the end of the day.

Four classes of Congregated Enrichment and Alternative Continuum of Education Programs will be moved to the south end of Kitchener, to Brigadoon and J.W. Gerth public schools.

“We’re grateful to the parents for their understanding, and also recognizing the frustration and anxiety that this causes for families,” said Miller. “In some cases, students may not be able to engage in remote learning.”

A parent meeting will be held to provide an update on the situation on Wednesday night, though the school hasn’t yet provided a location for that meeting.