Skip to content

Education minister agrees to tour and assess aging Alliston high school

'Structurally, the building is beyond repair. It would require major mechanical and electrical upgrades. It is full of asbestos,' says local MPP
2020-08-04 Lecce JO-002
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce is shown in a file photo during a visit to Oro-Medonte. Jessica Owen/BarrieToday

A replacement for the 70-year-old Banting Memorial High School could be on the horizon as Minister of Education Stephen Lecce recently said he’d be willing to tour the Alliston facility. 

The minister’s commitment came after Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson pressed him on it during Question Period in Queen's Park.  

"Structurally, the building is beyond repair. It would require major mechanical and electrical upgrades. It is full of asbestos,” said Wilson. "So, I ask the minister, will he ensure Banting Memorial High School is assessed in the coming months, so its replacement will be properly considered in the spring round of funding announcements for new schools in Ontario?” 

Lecce responded by saying millions in funding to at least incrementally improve the facility has been granted over the last decade, recognizing that there's growth in the New Tecumseth community and a need for renewal. 

Approximately $5.4 million has gone into Banting over the last decade for capital investments, which are large projects that required special funding allocations to keep the school operating.  

“We can certainly work offline to better understand the needs of your community,” Lecce said. “There are billions of dollars of requests that come before the Ministry of Education for capital and I'm very proud that, amid the pandemic, we have now unveiled two rounds of investment, roughly a billion dollars of monies flowing to improve schools right across this province.” 

Over the next decade, the provincial government has set aside $12 billion to renew and repair schools in an effort to remediate the backlog of capital investments needed.  

Sarah Beitz, the Simcoe County District School Board trustee for New Tecumseth, said she’s happy with Lecce’s response and looks forward to taking him up on his commitment to visit Banting Memorial High School. 

“I’m very excited to meet with the Minister and talk about our community, our school, and our needs because I think it's important for him to hear it from the local people,” she said. “It was very hopeful to hear him state in the question period to Mr. Wilson that it is on his radar and he does intend on definitely meeting with the community." 

Several years ago, under the Kathleen Wynne Liberals, the Ministry of Education toured Banting. Because a lot of the issues with the school are behind the walls and under the floors, they thought it was in solid condition, Beitz said.  

“A challenge will be when the minister comes to somehow safely show him those inaccessible areas, so we're working on a plan to kind of bring those to light,” she said.  

Beitz said it’s important to note that while Banting does have a large issue with asbestos, no staff or students in the facility are ever exposed, since asbestos is only dangerous when disturbed. 

“But what it does do is it triples, quadruples the cost of any maintenance, so any time we do have to go in and fix something, you have to tent it off," she said. “It just shows the age and how expensive it is to keep Banting running and operating." 

Beitz said she was brought to tears when she toured the newly built Georgian Bay District Secondary School in Midland after it opened its doors in 2019.

“I went to the opening there and it was just gorgeous. It felt conducive to learning, it made you want to learn and discover just being in it,” she said. "Everything was equipped and hooked up, it was just a really great environment and our kids need that in New Tecumseth. We need that so badly."  

Sam Odrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, New Tecumseth Times