Hamilton trustees back $15M reno for Sherwood Secondary School

A grassroots campaign to save Sherwood Secondary School from demolition seems ready to pay off.

Trustees on the Hamilton public school board's finance and facilities committee voted 4-1 at their March 10 meeting to recommend spending an estimated $15 million on a full renovation of the east Mountain school.

They did so after the results of a public survey on three options - which also included status quo" maintenance upgrades or permanently moving students to the former Barton high school - showed 73 per cent of 2,003 respondents favoured retaining Sherwood.

The committee's recommendation must still go to the full board of trustees on March 28 for final approval.

Trustee Alex Johnstone, who pushed for the full renovation, said keeping Sherwood on site honours a commitment from a 2012 accommodation plan that closed Barton and Hill Park in return for building the new Nora Frances Henderson.

She said the Sherwood community has been waiting since then for promised renovations to their school, but the province has denied requests for funding eight times, including for a rebuild after asbestos concerns stalled science lab upgrades in 2015.

I believe that switching sites to Barton permanently would be a complete violation," Johnstone said, citing the many phone calls and emails trustees have received from upset parents.

This process has not been very easy for the community," she said. We will need to look at rebuilding some trust, although trust was broken due to no fault of our own, as it is the ministry that has denied us the ability to build a new school."

Board chair Dawn Danko said she didn't agree with the 2012 accommodation plan, which predated her becoming trustee for Ward 7, home to Hill Park.

But she said the board must uphold its commitment to Sherwood given the ministry won't fund the most fiscally responsible option" of a rebuild.

Danko said although Sherwood's $15-million repair tab is higher than Barton's $8 million, the board spent more on renovating Westdale's Dalewood Elementary School and has exceeded budget on other school projects.

She said she couldn't support the status quo because students deserve the quality learning spaces at other high schools, including cosmetic upgrades like repainted lockers and new ceiling tiles.

Students deserve a school that they can feel proud in because it's well maintained. I appreciate hearing that we had invested about $2.5 million over the past 10 years," Danko said of improvements like new windows and doors, and stucco repairs.

I've heard reports, long-standing reports from the community at least, that there's minimal investment in Sherwood over the past 20 years or even longer, so I do feel the additional costs are money that will be well spent."

Only committee chair Cam Galindo opposed renovating Sherwood, favouring relocating students to Barton because of the cheaper bill.

We need to make decisions that are reflective of the needs of students across the board," the Stoney Creek trustee said.

A cost difference of $7 million makes me wonder what we can do with that renewal money across our board at other schools and what impact would this decision have for those schools and communities if we decide to spend the additional $7 million for the current Sherwood site for the sake of sentimental value."

West Mountain trustee Becky Buck and Dundas trustee Paul Tut also voted to renovate Sherwood.

Kathy Archer, Sherwood's trustee, attended the online meeting despite not being a committee member and thanked those supporting renovations.

I hope it's a positive for this community," she said, adding she looks forward to hearing public delegations at a special meeting on March 22.