Highly-anticipated Stittsville high school won’t be open by first day of school

A new high school in Ottawa’s west end is not opening for the first day of school, a message from the board reads.

According to the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), Maplewood Secondary School will not be opening for Sept. 3 after a review by the design teams raised concerns of safety.

“The number of outstanding safety issues strongly suggest that the building will likely fail the formal occupancy inspection this week,” AJ Keene Superintendent of Education (South) for OCDSB, said in a notice to parents.

The highly-anticipated project is set to be the first public high school in one of Ottawa’s fastest-growing communities.

The contractor, Tambro Construction Ltd., continues to say the space will be ready, but the board made an executive decision to let parents and students know the school will not be open.

“We are hopeful this contingency plan will be in effect for a minimal period of time as occupancy appears very close,” OCDSB said in the letter. “We will continue to monitor the situation and make decisions on a week-to-week basis.”

Instead, students in grades 7 and 8 will begin the school year at D.A. Moodie School near the Bells Corners East neighbourhood, an approximate 10-kilometre drive from the new Stittsville school. OCDSB said the school has been used to accommodate students before and is fully prepared for Sept. 3.

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) said there will be a 100 per cent transportation coverage.

To accommodate the switch, the school bell times will be from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., which is 15 minutes earlier than previous notes from the board.

Over the next few days, details for bus stops, pick-up times and other information will be on the OSTA portal.

Students in Grade 9 will start the school year learning virtually with OCDSB provided Chromebooks and hotspots for those who need it.

“We are in close communication with the contractor and will provide updates as soon as we have more information,” the OCDSB said.

When open the high school will be for students grades 7 to 12 and will offer English with Core French, Early French Immersion and Middle French Immersion programs.

Prior to the construction of Maplewood S.S., public school students in Stittsville were bused to South Carleton H.S. in Richmond or trekked to A.Y. Jackson S.S. in Kanata.

Previous information on the OCDSB website said the school was going to be complete by spring 2024, months before the start of school.