At the Board meeting on Feb. 3, 2021, Trustees of the Halton District School Board discussed the proposed site for a new secondary school to be located in northeast Oakville. The proposed site under discussion is located at 1039 Dundas St., near the intersection of Neyagawa Blvd and Dundas St W (Hwy #5). For planning purposes the school is currently referred to as Oakville NE #1 high school.
At the meeting, new information was presented that identified significant concerns with the proposed school site due its relative location to the AM radio tower array to the west, being located in the direct path of the emitted radio waves that point eastward.
This new information came to light as part of the Board’s due diligence process, where a study was commissioned to assess whether the AM radio towers would impact the proposed Oakville NE#1 high school. The report concluded that the proposed high school is outside the area of direct potential health impacts as defined by federal regulations, but there are potential impacts to end-users resulting from interference generated from the AM radio towers waves on the second and third storey of the proposed school. The Board’s consultant identified potential impacts to electronic devices, which included lifesaving and personal medical devices; operational school equipment for learning and communications; and personal electrical devices. The Board’s consultant indicated that there are no effective building material or design solutions that would effectively attenuate these impacts.
The final recommendation from the Board’s consultant is to relocate the Oakville NE #1 high school site, considering the AM tower array will remain at their present location.
After extensive discussions, Trustees directed Board staff to work with the Town of Oakville and other municipal agencies to identify alternative options for the location of the high school within the northeast Oakville secondary planning area that meets the needs of the Board over the lifespan of the school facility.
“We will continue to work diligently toward a solution as the need for a secondary school in North Oakville is an uppermost priority,” says Stuart Miller, Director of Education for the Halton District School Board. “This new high school was planned to open in the 2024-2025 school year and therefore we need to identify a new site and begin construction as soon as possible.”
For additional information, contact:
Stuart Miller, Director of Education
Halton District School Board
905-335-3663 | Toll-free 1-877-618-3456