Greenspace in Ward 2 is an Educational Right
Sabreina Dahab, Ward 2 HWDSB Trustee
Across Ward 2, residents are faced with a lack of greenspace. This reality is not lost on students in Ward 2 who constantly find themselves forced to spend their recesses running around on either hot asphalt in the summer or icy asphalt in the winter.
Parents and students continue to tell me that this is an unacceptable outcome for their children, that everyone deserves access to greenspace. Research reminds us that access to greenspace is shown to improve learning and mental health outcomes for students.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a resurgence in a push for eco-schools, more greenspaces, and more outdoor learning spaces for students. This fight has largely been led by parents and students across Ward 2. We saw the success of this advocacy recently by parents of students who attend Queen Victoria Elementary School in Corktown.
After years of advocacy by the Queen Victoria Elementary School Parent Council, the City of Hamilton, in collaboration with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, put up a chainlink fence to create an enclosure at Corktown Park. This was done to give students at Queen Victoria access to a safe and accessible greenspace at a short walking distance from their school. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, even if it is being used as a dog park at times by residents living nearby (which has caused some issues).
Queen Victoria is not the only school grappling with a lack of greenspace. Students at Central Elementary School, Dr. J.A. Davey Elementary School, and Hess Elementary School also have limited or no greenspace on which to play outdoors. But there is some good news for students at Central. It has recently received a grant to transform its outdoor space. The Parent Council, alongside the staff and admin team, are working tirelessly to collect feedback from parents and students on what they would like to see their outdoor space look like with plans to expand it in the very near future.
The lack of greenspace in Ward 2 schools is directly related to widespread issues of environmental racism and classism. Disproportionately impacting low-income Black, Indigenous, racialized and immigrant families, this lack of play space exists in tandem with environmental hazards and the inequitable distribution of recreational resources.
In addition to being deprived of greenspace, many Ward 2 schools are located adjacent to busy streets where students are impacted by car and truck pollution and a dangerous walking route to school that makes the surrounding environment feel hostile to students and parents. It is no coincidence that these schools consist primarily of low income and racialized communities who already face barriers accessing environmental benefits such as clean air and water.
The lack of prioritization around greenspace also directly correlates to the failures of our Provincial government. Though seemingly mutually exclusive, the targeted negligence towards creating sustainable schools exists in tandem with the Ford government’s intentions to expand the urban boundary.
A proposed solution, rather than expanding the urban boundary, which will have devastating impacts on the climate and housing crises, is to densify our neighbourhoods and build a walkable city. In the midst of ongoing conversations, however, to densify the urban centre and the downtown core, we must be intentional and thoughtful about ensuring that our urban centers have adequate greenspace. This includes ensuring that any new school builds prioritize greenspace and safer streets. This also means that greenspace can no longer be an afterthought but must be a priority in future City and school budgets and planning.
In the midst of a climate crisis, it is crucial to instill values of environmental responsibility, land-based learning, and outdoor learning pedagogies. These values cannot exist separately from access to adequate greenspace.
If play is an educational right, if recess and access to greenspace are educational rights, then the lack of access to greenspace in Ward 2 begs the question - why are greenspaces deprioritized in the building of schools?
Students in Ward 2 deserve better. I’m grateful to the parent councils across Ward 2 who are championing this. My commitment over the next few years is to support the work of parent councils who are tirelessly working to see more greenspaces across our schools.
This also includes fighting for greenspaces at schools that haven’t yet embarked on similar projects. Finally, my commitment is to ensure and advocate that any new school builds contain adequate and accessible greenspaces so that no other school is built without this fundamental right.