Some full-day kindergarten classrooms not ready for start of school year

A CityNews investigation has discovered that some Toronto full-day kindergarten classrooms are still not ready for the start of the school year.

Kindergartners at Rosedale Junior Public School won’t start in their classrooms this week and many other schools will also have to go with a backup plan on Tuesday due to growing pains associated with full-day kindergarten.

Ten schools had to build additions as a result of increased enrollment and they aren’t ready to go yet, meaning hundreds of kids won’t start the school year in their permanent classrooms.

Hundreds of older students at other schools will also be displaced as they had to move to make way for full-day kindergarten and those new classrooms aren’t ready yet either.

At many schools across the GTA, work is continuing right until the opening school bell and many are running into the same problem: a shortage of tradespeople.

Parents can rest easy — even if your child’s classroom isn’t ready tomorrow, they’ll still have a place to go, such as an unused classroom, library or portable on a temporary basis, until their classrooms can be completed.

The public school board says that most construction projects will wrap-up by the end of September, although there will be a few that last right until the end of the calendar year.

Full list of schools affected:

Schools implementing full-day kindergarten this year with classrooms not ready in time for the start of the school year:

  • Rosedale Junior PS

Schools that already implemented full-day kindergarten, but had to build new additions to accommodate more students, where classrooms won’t be ready in time for the new school year:

  • Albion Heights JMS
  • Elmbank JMA
  • HJ Alexander CS
  • Islington JMS
  • Pelmo Park PS
  • Perth JPS
  • Weston Memorial JPS
  • Brown JPS
  • Buchanan PS
  • Church Street PS

Schools implementing full-day kindergarten this year where classrooms aren’t ready for the older grades that were moved to accommodate kindergarteners:

  • Chief Dan George PS
  • Keele Street PS
  • Swansea PS
  • Bedford Park PS
  • Brookside PS

5 facts about FDK program

  • FDK program is available to 265,000 four- and five-year-olds in about 3,600 schools in the province
  • By the end of 2014-15 school year, nearly half a million children will have benefitted from FDK since it was introduced in 2010.
  • The FDK program has received more than $1.5 billion
  • Families can save up to $6,500 a year in child care costs by enrolling their child in FDK.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today