At Hamilton's only public high school without a sports field, these students are rallying for change

Nearly 400 people have signed a petition started by students at Bernie Custis Secondary School (BCSS) to build a sports field at the only public high school in Hamilton that doesn't have one.

Victoria Hoeksema and Phoenix Hughes, the students behind the petition, said not having a field is "unfair" and has affected their high school experience.

Hoeksema said most of the 370 signatures are from students of the school.

"Every time that we've told [students] what it's about, especially the boys on the football team, they want it to move forward," said Hughes.

The school doesn't have a full yard for students. Instead, there's a grassy area with berms (small hills on otherwise flat terrain) between the school and the adjacent Bernie Morelli Recreation Centre.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) trustee from Ward 3 Maria Felix Miller told CBC Hamilton the plan is to remove the berms this summer.

BCSS opened in 2019 across from Tim Hortons Field, where Canadian Football League team the Hamilton Tiger-Cats play. It is the public school board's only high school without a sports field, according to HWDSB superintendent Gerry Smith.

"The absence of a field is quite a barrier," he told CBC Hamilton in an interview. "When you think about high school, and all the activities you can do when you have your own field, even the ones that happen that aren't planned, it is quite a challenge for students not to be able to access a field regularly."

He said he hopes removing the berms will help fill the gap for the time being.

'There's no school spirit'

Hoeksema said she has friends on the school's football team and Hughes has friends on the school's soccer team.

Their petition also called for the removal of the berms on the green space next to the school — Hoekema said they hadn't been told there was a plan to remove them already in the works.

Still, Hoekema said removing the berms would just be a "band-aid solution," adding it's upsetting to see her schoolmates, many of whom she said come from poverty, be at a disadvantage compared to students at other schools.

BCSS teams can use Tim Hortons Field for 400 hours per year. None of those hours are allocated for gym classes, Hoeksema said.

"Forget about our sports teams, our gym classes should not be stuck inside for the whole year," she said.

The lack of a field also "destroys school spirit," added Hoeksema.

"You go to other schools and for any other type of game everyone's in the stands, everyone's watching, everyone's cheering," she said.

The original plan for the school was to have green space on the roof, but the plan wasn't approved by the Ministry of Education, Felix Miller said. After that, the plan was to use a field at a new nearby park, which was expected to open shortly after BCSS.

But construction for the park, which will be located at the corner of Gage Avenue North and Lloyd Street, a 15-minute walk from the school, won't start until 2025, Felix Miller said.

"It's taken so long because of the amount of environmental reporting that's been required to the Ministry of the Environment," said Felix Miller. "Because it was a former industrial property."

The partnership with Tim Hortons Field was supposed to alleviate the need for green space, said Felix Miller, but due to conflicting schedules, many of the available hours are during the summer break and not right after school.

Students say they feel unheard by the school and board

Hoeksema and Hughes also said they feel leadership at BCSS and the HWDSB aren't listening.

Hughes said she tried scheduling a meeting with the principal, who didn't get back to her for a week before suddenly scheduling a meeting and then rescheduling twice.

"It's very frustrating to be set aside multiple times from people who are supposed to be helping better our learning opportunities. Students are always told to go to a teacher or the principal if there's a problem and when we actually do we're rescheduled multiple times," she said.

The students said they ended up meeting on May 16 with the principal, who told them he would try to work on improving the school yard and access to Tim Hortons Field.

The pair said they believe they only started hearing back from the board and school administration after CBC Hamilton started inquiring for this story.

Felix Miller told CBC Hamilton there were gaps in the communication between students and the board, and said she's committed to providing "better and more frequent updates."

"It is true, sometimes it's just because of the nature of so many meetings, it can be kind of easy to forget to do the final step of the last update, because things are still in the works," she said.

She also said she's aware of many of the concerns of students at the school and doesn't want them to feel forgotten by the board.

"We're trying our best given the limitations of the site, the geography, quite literally the space or lack thereof," she said.

"We know that it doesn't feel equitable, and we are working and have been working alongside city staff in order to address those questions."