Long Term Accommodation Plan (LTAP)
What is a Long Term Accommodation Plan?
A Long Term Accommodation Plan (LTAP) is an annually reviewed planning document produced by the Halton District School Board that provides enrolment projections and guides accommodation planning for a 15-year period. The LTAP also identifies accommodation pressures resulting from these projected enrolments and proposes strategies to address them.
The basis of this plan is to identify new capital project initiatives for the Board over the next 4 years, in preparation for
Capital Priorities funding requests through the Ministry of Education. It also provides an opportunity to identify boundary studies and to address accommodation pressures due to new residential development, changing demographics, and program pressures. New for the 2021/2022 update is additional information from Facility Services to provide more context for new capital project initiatives and proposed actions.
Enrolment Projection Methodology
Where can I learn more about the enrolment projection methodology?
Are projections based on Census data?
No. Projections are based on a various of sources of data, including but not limited to:
- Current and historic enrolment data;
- Circulated development plans; and,
- Regional birth data.
Projection methodology can be found in the
methodology section of the Long Term Accommodation Plan. Note that Census data is provided in the LTAP for reference only.
Are students from specialized programs, such as English as a Second Language (ESL), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Gifted, included in the projections?
Yes. Students from specialized programs, such as English as a Second Language (ESL), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Gifted (secondary), are included in the projections under English (ENG). Gifted (elementary) students have been identified on a separate line in the projections.
Is development considered in the enrolment projections?
Yes. As a part of the Planning Act, the Halton District School Board is circulated on all residential development plans by municipalities. The type and number of units is included within the information shared by the municipality. The Planning department utilizes the information on units and phasing in developing enrolment projections.
The HDSB Planning Department is in regular communication with municipalities and developers to track development and unit occupancy.
Why isn't there more growth from infill being modelled in older, more mature areas?
Mature communities are areas that are identified as communities that have older age homes and very little potential for new housing development. In some mature communities, there may be some infill development potential where lots already occupied by existing buildings may be rezoned to build several residential homes. In most cases, infill residential development produces a low number of new homes. Therefore, the impact of many infill residential developments is very minimal to a school's projection.
As with any development application in a municipality, whether it is a large-scale residential greenfield development of 500 single-family residential dwellings or a smaller infill development of 5 townhouses, the municipality must circulate these applications to all agencies, including the school boards, for comment. All residential units are counted in the school board's housing counts and are part of developing school projections.
Within mature communities, there is flux in the population where homes are sold and bought and families that no longer have school-age children move out and families with school-age children move in. The Planning Department does not keep track of the number of homes sold and bought in a community. We do not have student yields for resale homes. The way that Planning captures this flux in mature communities is to look at historical enrolment data, make note of patterns and apply these patterns to create a projection.
Accommodation Issues and Strategies
It appears that there are significant enrolment pressures in new communities, such as Milton. Why is the Board not building the schools and additions fast enough?
Funding for the construction of new schools and additions are provided by the Ministry of Education. The Board provided a list of capital projects for new schools and additions to the Ministry in May 2021. A similar list was submitted by all school boards in Ontario and the Ministry of Education assessed them accordingly. At this point, the timing for new capital funding submissions has not been announced by the Ministry.
What is the utilization rate that would be considered on a low end, one that would put a school in consideration for closure?
When closing schools, there are a number of factors that are taken into consideration. Declining enrolment does not automatically mean closing schools. According to the
Program and Accommodation Review (PAR) policy, approved on February 17, 2016, schools or a group of schools may be considered for a PAR if one or more of the following conditions apply:
- Declining enrolment where On the Ground (OTG) utilization rate is below 65%;
- Reorganization could enhance program delivery and learning opportunities for students;
- Assigning three or more grades to one class in one or more schools becomes necessary under normal staffing allocation practices;
- The current physical condition of the school(s) negatively impacts the optimum operation of the building(s) and program delivery; and,
- There are safety, accessibility and/or environmental concerns associated with the building, the school site or its locality.
At what point will we know which elementary schools and secondary schools may need to close?
The Ministry of Education released new
Pupil Accommodation Review Guideline in March 2015, which required the Halton District School Board to review and update its policies accordingly. At the February 17, 2016, Board Meeting, Halton District School Board Trustees approved a new Program and Accommodation Review (PAR) policy.
In July 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Education imposed a moratorium on school closures and is still in place at the time of publication of this update.
What projects are planned for the next four years (2022-2025)?
Capital Project Initiatives for elementary and secondary schools can be found in Section 3 of the LTAP.
Current projects with Ministry Funding include:
- Rattlesnake Point PS (Milton SE #11 PS)
- Milton SW #12PS
- Oakville NE #3 PS
- Oakville NE #1 HS
- Milton SW #13 PS
- Oakville NE #5 PS
For more detail please refer to the
LTAP - Capital Project Initiatives.What projects are planned for the next six to ten plus years (2022-2031)?
The Board can only apply to the Ministry of Education for projects up to four years in the future however the Board does plan for new schools in the secondary planning process in conjunction with municipalities and developers. Elementary/Secondary Review Areas (ERAs/SRAs) with new schools are indicated under “ERA Trends” of the LTAP. The timing of these new schools are dependent on the progress of development of new communities and Ministry funding.
For the 2021/2022 LTAP, ERAs/SRAs with identified new schools are:
- ERA 114 (1 elementary school - Merton Study Area)
- ERA 118 (2 elementary schools)
- SRA 108 (1 secondary schools)
- ERA 120 potential for new elementary schools in the Trafalgar Corridor and Britannia East/West Corridor. Location and number to be determined.
- ERA 127 (5 elementary schools)
- SRA 104 (1 secondary school)
- SRA 105 potential for new secondary schools in the Trafalgar Corridor and Britannia East/West Corridor. Location and number to be determined.
- ERA 124 (1 elementary school - South Georgetown)
- ERA 124 (3 elementary schools - Vision Georgetown secondary plan)
- SRA 107 (1 secondary school - Vision Georgetown secondary plan)
Why are portable classrooms used rather than permanent additions?
Portable classrooms are utilized to provide interim pupil accommodation at schools experiencing enrolment growth due new residential development (i.e. new subdivisions) or as a result of policy/program initiatives. The trend for schools located within new residential communities is to have significant enrolment growth in the short to medium term, with enrolment peaking in year 10. As the community matures, enrolment declines and the portable classrooms are removed to the point that all students are able to be accommodated within the building itself. Constructing permanent additions to facilities to accommodate the peak enrolments, typically results in the school(s) being under capacity with vacant pupil places once the community matures. This could possibly result in the Board having a number of schools with vacant pupil places, which could result in the need to undertake a
Program and Accommodation Review (i.e. school closures or consolidations) for these underutilized schools. Historically, schools were built to meet these peak enrolments. However, due to declining enrolment in these schools as a result of the communities maturing, the Board has undertaken a number of what were historically called PARC processes, now PARs, which has resulted in school closures in many of these neighbourhoods. In the event that there are new policy/program initiatives (i.e. implementation of Full-Day JK/SK), with funding from the Ministry of Education, permanent additions are constructed.
When placing portables on school sites is any consideration given to the size of the actual school facility?
Portable placement is a function of several variables including site/zoning requirements, as well as facility factors such as number of washrooms. School capacities have declined as a result of changes to class capacities (Ministry initiatives). Most new schools are planned to accommodate 12 portables on site. In some cases additional portables can be placed on site, subject to meeting building code and zoning by-law requirements.
Are portables safe? How do we know they aren't all mould filled?
A schedule was developed to inspect all portable classrooms owned and operated by the Halton District School Board. While most moulds can be cleaned up with a solution of water and bleach, it is important to note that any area of mould found in a portable classroom to be larger than two square feet (60 cm2), must be removed by an environmental consultant (in accordance with the protocol developed by the Halton District School Board and the Halton Regional Health Department, for inspection/remediation).
At present, all portables are inspected regularly, and any remediation required is carried out. For more information regarding portable inspections, please contact
Facility Services.
School Facilities and Utilization
With regards to on-the-ground capacity (OTG), what is included in that count? Do specialized rooms like French and music rooms contribute to a school's rated capacity?
The on-the-ground capacity or OTG is the Ministry rated capacity of a school building.
Most elementary school rooms are counted at 23, regardless of the room's present use. Most secondary school rooms are counted at 21. Other rooms may be counted at only 9, such as special education rooms.
When did Full day JK/SK have to be fully implemented?
The Ministry of Education's 5 year roll out plan indicated that boards should have fully implemented full day every day kindergarten by 2014/2015. At this time, all Board schools offer
Full Day Kindergarten.
Why aren't schools better situated on their sites to handle parking and traffic?
Prior to building permit approval, site plans are submitted to the local municipalities for approval. These plans include building location, setbacks and parking requirements as required by the local municipality. As part of site plan approval is the submission of appropriate traffic studies by the school board. These are reviewed by the local municipality traffic engineering department. Once these have been approved, the board can proceed to get a building permit.
What is being done to achieve equity between older schools in declining neighbourhoods and new construction where schools appear to have more amenities?
The Board has undertaken an initiative called “Close the Gap" to address needs of older schools. Please contact
Facility Services if you have further questions regarding the initiative.
What triggers a boundary review?
One of the goals of an LTAP is the identification of projected trends based on historical data. Based on this information, the LTAP can recommend a number of boundary reviews to be considered in the future. Boundary reviews for elementary schools are usually initiated in the fall of a school year and are completed in February of the same school year. For
secondary schools, boundary reviews are initiated in January/February of a school year and are completed by June of the same school year.
Boundary reviews can be initiated for a number of reasons:
- A new school opening - this type of boundary review provides enrolment relief to adjacent schools.
- A program change - a recommendation to add a new program or remove a program from a school.
- A redistribution of student enrolment in schools within an ERA or a family of schools (ex. A school is projected to be near or over building and portable capacity for the next ten years.)
Community Planning and Partnerships
What opportunities are there for facility partnerships?
The Ministry of Education released new
Community Planning and Partnerships Guidelines in March 2015. These guidelines encourage school boards to reach out to community organizations to share planning information, especially prior to commencing a pupil accommodation review. The guidelines emphasize the prioritization and protection of student health and safety. As such, partnerships must be appropriate for the school setting and they must not compromise the student achievement strategy. A new
Community Planning and Partnerships policy was developed and approved at the October 21, 2015, Board Meeting. A full list of facilities available for partnerships are available on the Board's
Community Planning and Partnerships webpage.
More recently, the Ministry of Education has announced that they are committed to updating the Community Planning and Partnerships Guideline (CPPG) within the coming year. The Ministry will consult on proposed revisions to the CPPG with the Minister's Reference Group on Community and Education Planning and Partnerships. Proposed CPPG revisions will seek to improve information sharing among school boards, municipalities and community partners.
If you have additional questions, please contact the
Planning department and we will be able to assist you.