New K-12 school gets site plan approval

KINGSVILLE — The new K-12 school in Kingsville has received the green light, as Kingsville Council approved the Site Plan for the 138,000 square foot building.

Construction is expected to take about18 months and is expected to begin soon.

The school will replace the existing Kingsville High School, as well as Jack Miner Public School and Kingsville Public School. It will also take on secondary school students from the Harrow area.

The school will be a mixed, two storey and single storey building, situated on 25 acres at 1620 Jasperson Drive, just south of the Kingsville baseball diamonds and soccer fields.

Plans have been in the works for five years and council was relieved to get the site plan for approval.

The Greater Essex County District School Board received about 70 pages of emails and 100 phone calls when they opened up the plan for public input.

According to Kingsville’s Manager of Planning Services, most of the concerns centered around increased traffic and air pollution with idling buses at the school.

“We believe the traffic concerns will be addressed by the realignment of Jasperson and the staggered dismissal times at the school,” said Brown. “As for the idling buses, we’ve verified that the buses are not allowed to be kept running while waiting for students.”

The 25 acre property will eventually include sports fields and a track, but they are not included in the initial phase of the construction.

Councillor Larry Patterson was the first to comment, saying, “Let’s move the recommendation and get this school built.”

After some discussion about the plan itself, council voted unanimously to approve it, paving the way for the new school to be built.