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Tottenham students will transfer to Beeton school for Grades 7 and 8

March 17, 2022   ·   0 Comments

There will be no Grade 7 and 8 classes at Tottenham’s Father F.X. O’Reilly Catholic School when school returns in September.

Students in those grades will instead be going to Monsignor J.E Ronan Catholic School in Beeton.

The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board began a boundary review in January to address issues at three existing elementary schools: F.X. O’Reilly in Tottenham, J.E. Ronan in Beeton, and St. Paul’s Catholic School in Alliston.

Capacity at F.X. O’Reilly has been an issue over the past few years and the boundary review was deemed necessary to find a solution to relieve the pressure.

Students attending J.E. Ronan and live north of Line 10 will instead attend the new Alliston Catholic Elementary School which is slated to open in September. This will free up some space at J.E. Ronan for incoming students.

Alliston students will also be affected as some St. Paul’s students will attend the new Alliston school in the fall.

“We had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the current capacity issues and plan for future growth in the area,” explained Joe Zerdin, Catholic School Board chair. “We continue to work with the Ministry of Education for approval to build a new school in Tottenham, but, in the meantime, the Grade 7 and 8 students from F.X. O’Reilly will move to Monsignor J.E. Ronan in Beeton. This is intended as a temporary measure to relieve capacity pressures at the school. The new school opening in Alliston will result in space opening up at Monsignor J.E. Ronan, which we are utilizing to relieve capacity pressures at F.X. O’Reilly.”

After review, the final decision was made on February 28.

A committee will be created to make sure the transition to the new school goes well.

With New Tecumseth growing in population and Tottenham leading the way, there are more kids attending local schools.

Three new subdivisions in Tottenham increased the population of the town by 4,187 residents, according to the last census. New Tecumseth is the seventh fastest growing municipality in the country.

There have been concerns voiced by some Tottenham residents regarding the added time it will take students to get to and from school as well as child care issues some families might face.

Many F.X. O’Reilly students live within walking distance of the school.

“Transportation will be provided to students at F. X. O’Reilly in Tottenham who are being moved to Monsignor J.E. Ronan in Beeton,” Mr. Zerdin said.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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