Binbrook is Growing. Are Our Schools Keeping Up?

Binbrook and the surrounding Glanbrook community continue to grow. New homes mean new families, and new families mean more students.

That growth is good for our community. But it also raises an important question:

Are we planning our schools quickly enough to keep pace?

The numbers suggest this is something families, and the next Board of Trustees, need to keep watching closely.

Some schools are already well over capacity

According to HWDSB's long-term accommodation planning, Bellmoore Elementary had 915 students and was operating at approximately 143% utilization in 2025. Mount Hope Elementary had 503 students and was at approximately 139% utilization.

Those numbers matter.

When a school exceeds its permanent capacity, the impact isn't limited to the number of classrooms. Growth can put additional pressure on common spaces, student supports, programming, transportation, drop-off and pick-up areas, and the overall functioning of the school.

Portables can provide necessary classroom space, but they aren't a substitute for long-term infrastructure planning.

A new Binbrook school is coming

There is good news.

HWDSB is moving forward with a new elementary school in Binbrook, currently planned to accommodate approximately 615 students and expected to open for the 2027–28 school year.

The permanent attendance boundary has also been approved following the Binbrook II boundary review.

A new school is an important investment in this growing community. But it doesn't end the conversation.

The projections already show continued pressure

HWDSB's own long-term projections anticipate approximately 776 students at the new Binbrook school by 2035.

For a school designed for 615 students, that would represent roughly 126% utilization.

That's several years away, and enrolment projections can change. Development can accelerate, slow down or shift geographically.

But that is precisely why long-range planning matters.

We shouldn't wait until a new school is overcrowded to begin asking what comes next.

Growth affects more than buildings

School accommodation decisions have real consequences for families.

When enrolment grows, it can eventually affect:

• attendance boundaries;

• transportation and bus routes;

• portable classrooms;

• access to specialized programs and student supports;

• before- and after-school care;

• traffic around schools;

• and whether children can continue attending the school their neighbourhood has traditionally used.

  
  

Those decisions need to be communicated clearly and early. Families shouldn't first learn about significant changes after most of the planning has already happened.

What can a trustee actually do?

Trustees don't build schools themselves, approve subdivisions or control every provincial infrastructure decision. But they do have an important governance and advocacy role.

Trustees should be asking whether enrolment forecasts reflect actual development happening in our communities. They should scrutinize long-term accommodation plans, monitor utilization and portable dependence, advocate for capital priorities and provincial funding, and make sure families have meaningful opportunities to participate when boundaries or accommodation plans change.

They should also be looking beyond today's enrolment.

If the Board already knows where significant residential development is planned, that information should be part of decisions being made now.

Binbrook shouldn't always be catching up

Growth is not a surprise in Binbrook.

Families can see it.

Developers know it.

The City knows it.

And HWDSB's own projections recognize it.

The challenge is making sure infrastructure keeps pace.

The new Binbrook school is an important step forward, but opening another school cannot become the finish line if projections already show continued enrolment pressure.

As trustee, I would continue asking:

• What do the latest enrolment numbers show?

• How do they compare with development forecasts?

• Where will additional capacity be needed next?

• Are student supports growing alongside enrolment?

• And are families being included early enough when changes are being considered?

Good governance isn't only about solving today's problem. It's about seeing the next one coming.

Binbrook is growing. Our planning needs to grow with it.

— Melissa Baxter