No sign of rare turtles near future Kitchener school

The site of the future Chicopee Hills Public School, at Lackner Boulevard and Fairway Road in Kitchener, is pictured on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

So far, a search for a rare turtle hasn’t been successful – and that’s good news for people awaiting a new school in Kitchener’s east end.

A consultant hired by the Waterloo Region District School Board is halfway through its surveying of the future home of Chicopee Hills Public School.

The consultant was called in after a threatened type of turtle known as a Blanding’s turtle may have been spotted in the area in 2014.

“As of yet, no Blanding’s turtles have been sighted,” WRDSB superintendent Matthew Gerard said Thursday.

In this June 9, 1999, file photo, a Blanding's turtle is about to cross a road at Weaver Dunes near Kellogg, Minn. (Jeff Dankert/The Winona Daily News via AP)

The surveying work, which was timed to take place when the turtle typically emerges from hibernation, is expected to continue into mid-May.

Chicopee Hills Public School is scheduled to open to students in September 2017.