The Ministry of Education has tentatively approved $60 million in funding to build four new schools in Milton, helping alleviate the overcrowding brought on by the development boom.

While formal approval is pending, the Halton District School Board (HDSB) recently received indication from the ministry that it can proceed with plans to open three new elementary schools in September 2009 and a new secondary school in 2010.

"Obviously we're very, very excited," said HDSB Milton Trustee Donna Danielli. "I'm very pleased to see the ministry recognizes the need to respond to the accelerated growth in Milton."

With the population explosion Milton's schools have been bursting at the seams, with many schools using portables or portapaks to accommodate the extra students. The board is even moving some Sam Sherratt Public School students to new schools in the fall to help alleviate overcrowding.

While there was going to be a shortage of about 1,200 pupil places in local elementary schools come next year, HDSB business services superintendent Steven Parfeniuk said the new schools will accommodate 2,100 students.

"For the first time in a long time we'll have extra capacity in Milton," he said. "By building all three schools at once, we're putting the community in a place where it'll have the capacity to manage growth for the next couple of years."

He said this also means parents won't have to keep moving their children from school to school because of accommodation issues.

"Parents have been incredibly patient and really worked in a positive way with the board," he noted.

Of the three new elementary schools, two will be located on the west side of town and one in the east end. The secondary school is being planned for the southeast part of Milton.

Danielli said the business case the board made for the new schools was an unusual one, since it asked for three elementary facilities and one secondary school all at once. Typically schools are applied for one at a time. The board tried to demonstrate that it can't look at one school in isolation in Milton due to the growing population.

With more growth on the horizon for Milton, the board is working to plan schools for the coming years. A capital plan and enrollment forecast for all of Halton will go before school trustees at the board meeting Wednesday, May 21.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com.