Capital Priorities in Wards 11 & 12: What the Records Show

Last night’s HWDSB Finance & Facilities meeting was informative and in some areas, surprising. There is clearly a lot of capital work moving forward across the Board, including progress on the new Binbrook elementary school and the Mount Hope addition.

At the same time, I think residents should be looking closely at how capital and renewal priorities are being balanced within our Wards 11 and 12.

Ancaster High is one example of a school that has received significant capital investment over many years, both before and during the current trustee's term. That distinction matters, because not every project completed during the last four years originated with the current trustee or current Board.

During the current term, Board capital records show Ancaster High included in the Secondary Facility Benchmark Strategy, with $500,000 identified in 2022–23 and $1.35 million in 2023–24 for washroom, changeroom and cafeteria renovations. Later reports show approximately $1.1 million in completed Hospitality and Tourism renovations, along with accessible washroom/changeroom work, changeroom renovations and additional phases of parking-lot improvements.

Parking lot phases 3 and 4 alone were ultimately reported at approximately $385,000 and $430,000, while a roof replacement was reported complete at approximately $1.154 million.

Most recently, another $1 million has been allocated for Ancaster High for 2026–27 — $700,000 for a Learning Commons renovation and $300,000 for a main entrance and foyer enhancement. Both projects were initiated in spring 2026, with construction anticipated for summer 2027.

None of that means Ancaster High does not deserve investment. Older secondary schools have legitimate renewal, accessibility and program needs. But it does raise a fair question about how priorities are balanced against other aging schools in the same wards.

Rousseau Elementary provides a very different example.

In 2017, HWDSB trustees approved a plan that included replacing Rousseau with a new K–8 school on the Rousseau site, contingent on provincial funding. Funding was received for other pieces of the Ancaster accommodation plan, but not for the Rousseau replacement. HWDSB records say the Rousseau proposal has been submitted to the Ministry multiple times since 2017–18 and repeatedly declined.

The Ministry has cited factors including insufficient cost justification, limited projected savings, relatively little reduction in the renewal backlog and surplus student capacity within the Ancaster planning area. Rousseau is currently rated by HWDSB in “fair” condition at 62% in the 2026 Long-Term Facilities Plan.

Rousseau has not received no investment. Board records show a completed $77,000 parking lot paving project, and another $500,000 has been allocated for parking lot paving in 2026–27, with construction anticipated in summer 2027.

But the much larger question, the replacement school approved almost a decade ago, remains unresolved.

I reviewed the public Board records looking specifically for current term trustee led action on Rousseau. I have not located a motion introduced by the current Ward 11 & 12 trustee specifically directing renewed action on the Rousseau rebuild. That does not mean advocacy could not have occurred through meetings, conversations with staff or other channels that do not appear in public minutes. Board staff have also continued to review and resubmit the project over the years.

What I think residents deserve to understand is the broader picture: which schools are receiving capital investment, which schools continue to wait, what criteria are driving those decisions, and what advocacy is happening when long standing projects repeatedly fail to receive provincial funding.

Growth and accommodation pressures understandably play a major role in provincial capital funding, which helps explain major projects in rapidly growing communities like Binbrook and Mount Hope. But aging buildings, accessibility, renewal needs and long standing commitments matter too.

So I’d like to hear directly from families, staff and residents across Wards 11 and 12:

Where do you think future capital and renewal dollars should be prioritized?

Are there schools in Ancaster, Binbrook, Glanbrook or Mount Hope where you see aging infrastructure, accessibility concerns, capacity pressures, safety issues or renovations that have been waiting too long?

I want to hear what the people who use these buildings every day are seeing