Fenced off and shut out: Elizabeth Ziegler families continue to wait for engineering report

Parents are eagerly awaiting a report on the structural safety of a Waterloo school. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte hears from one frustrated parent.

The Waterloo Region District School Board says it plans on sharing the findings of a structural engineering report on Elizabeth Ziegler Public School later this week.

Families have been waiting for the report, which they hope will shed some light on the future of the shuttered school.

“It’s been three months since the original issue was found and there have been structural assessments that have been happening,” said Ian McDonald, whose daughter used to attend Elizabeth Ziegler. “The challenge is, we’re a few weeks past the deadline that the board set to report on what those findings are.”

His daughter now has to take the bus to Sandowne Public School.

“Sandowne is on the other side of the highway. So, the kids are busing across and will bus again next year,” McDonald explained.

Some of the students are still learning at Elizabeth Ziegler in portables behind the school.

• TIMELINE: Elizabeth Ziegler Public School closure

But McDonald’s daughter already knows she’ll be going to Sandowne again next year, along with hundreds of other students, as the school board has extended the closure of Elizabeth Ziegler.

“It’s really the lack of information that’s been a problem,” said McDonald. “I’m worried there’s a lack of urgency and accountability in the board and in the trustees at this phase of the process.”

That frustration comes from the fact that a structural engineering report has yet not been released, especially due to concerns about the safety of the building’s façade.

McDonald praised the teachers and staff at both schools for making the transition as smooth as possible. The fact that the board missed self-imposed deadlines for releasing the report, he noted, also impacts staff and leaves them in limbo too.

Until Monday, the board had repeatedly said it had not yet received the report from the engineering firm, which was why nothing had been released.

“I think we’re already thinking about 2026-27. That’s 15 months away. When this originally happened, it was 18 months,” said McDonald. “But if the issues here are more significant and the school needs to be torn down or otherwise, something that might take multiple years, I think we deserve to know so we can make better plans.”

He also worries about how much money may be spent in the assessment phase and any eventual repairs, and wonders what will be left to make his daughter’s school experience a good one upon a return to Elizabeth Ziegler – if there even is one.