Plans for a 35-storey tower are causing upheaval at one of Toronto’s oldest elementary schools, leaving 500 students facing the prospect of construction chaos steps away from their classrooms, or moving to another location.

The project near Yonge and Eglinton was approved last year by the Ontario Municipal Board and is located in the riding of Premier Kathleen Wynne.

There is so much concern among parents over the safety of children attending John Fisher Public School it recently prompted the premier to call several of her worried constituents directly.

It has also left local politicians and the school board scrambling to try to figure out a solution in a neighbourhood where schools are already short of space.

“This was a colossal mistake and horrendously thought out,” says Ian Cooper, who has a daughter in Grade 1 at the French immersion school and another in preschool on the site.

The situation is causing “huge uncertainty” about next year and the future of the school, adds parent Mary Mowbray.

“I see this as an example of a community being destroyed,” says the mother of a Grade 5 student.

They are among parents baffled at how plans to erect a highrise apartment tower on a small lot that abuts the playground, which would require a crane overhead and heavy equipment rolling by, could be safe. Not to mention how the noise, vibrations and dust from the site next door will affect the learning environment in the century-old school.

After repeatedly contacting Wynne’s constituency office demanding answers, Cooper received a phone call from the premier last week during which he outlined his objections.

The Toronto District School Board is exploring options for temporary relocation of the school as a backup plan, spokesperson Ryan Bird confirmed this week.

One possible site is Vaughan Road Academy, which is slated to close in June but is about six kilometres southwest of John Fisher and would create a whole other challenge for transportation. But in a letter sent to parents Friday, the board said the decision to relocate “has not yet been determined” and will depend on the outcome of a risk assessment currently being conducted for the TDSB by an outside consultant.

Stavros Rougas, a vocal opponent of the project and parent of an 8-year-old at John Fisher, is another parent who got a call from Wynne.

“The fact she acknowledged this is a real issue is positive,” said Rougas, who spoke with Wynne for about 10 minutes and said she expressed concern. “But more words and meetings doesn’t necessarily mean action.”

Wynne also called a meeting with City Councillor Jaye Robinson and area trustee Gerri Gershon to discuss concerns raised when the two met earlier with parents, local residents and city and board officials.

Robinson calls the project the “poster child” of bad planning decisions. She says her office hasn’t been able to keep up with the complaints.

The city has said neither the mayor nor council can overturn the decision by the OMB, which has come under increasing fire for decisions leading to rampant development that overload the city’s existing infrastructure.

City and school board officials are working with the developer, KG Group, on a plan to mitigate the impact of the project on the students and school. But it’s unclear whether ensuring health and safety will be possible, says Gershon.

The company did not return calls requesting an interview this week.

“A 35-storey building going up basically on top of a school playground and sandwiched into a neighbourhood with no setbacks on this little tiny lot, I don’t know how they’re going to build it,” Robinson said. “This is outrageous what’s being proposed here.”

Children’s safety is non-negotiable as the top priority, she added. “But how do we facilitate this? It’s near impossible.”

At a TDSB board meeting last fall, Michael Stewart, a lawyer representing KG Group, said the project will be done in accordance with all applicable laws and in line with any construction mitigation plan required by the city. He added that the builder, Tridel Corp., has completed prior projects next to schools.

But critics stress that city bylaws governing factors like noise, air quality and traffic don’t address the needs of young children at school.

Parents also expressed concern that the developer’s initial construction mitigation plan released in January includes no special measures related to the 500 John Fisher students or the child care centre on the same site.

The project was approved by the OMB in early 2016 despite objections from the city and local residents in a neighbourhood where booming redevelopment is already jamming streets and sidewalks.

When Stavros Rougas and his son make their 800-metre walk to school, they pass “five massive towers under construction,” he says.

The controversy over the proposed project came to a head last fall when parents discovered the TDSB was quietly negotiating a deal with KG Group to lease a portion of the school’s playground as a staging area to facilitate construction on the small lot.

Parents went public and appealed to trustees at a board meeting to fight the deal and the secrecy surrounding those talks. Then in November, KG withdrew its request to lease the school space.

At the time, Nathan Katz, who is overseeing the project, said his company intended to reach out to parents and have “open dialogue” about its plans.

With the next school year now only six months away, the clock is ticking on a solution. Demolition of the existing lowrise buildings on the lot is scheduled for this summer.

The TDSB expects the risk assessment will be delivered by late April “to determine if the school can be occupied during the development of the tower,” said Ryan Bird.

“If it cannot, we will look to other options including relocation.”

In a Jan. 27 letter to the city, board staff also called on City Hall to ensure student safety is not compromised.

“The construction of a 109m tower adjacent to an elementary school, on the lot line with zero setbacks is unprecedented,” says the letter, which also says the board wants input on the construction management plan and access to all other reports and permits related to the project.

“TDSB and parents need to know that the children’s health, safety and education will not be at risk.”

Rougas fears that if the school moves to another location, there’s a good chance it will lose many students.

Trustee Gerri Gershon says she’s been inundated with calls from parents worried about safety and the disruption of having to change schools.

The situation could also create headaches that will reverberate through the area, which is already short of school spaces.

“We don’t have an easy solution to put the kids somewhere else,” says Gershon. “The schools surrounding John Fisher are all over capacity, so it’s a real dilemma.”

One idea that has been floated by several parties is for the board to sell the school to the developer and collaborate on a new mixed-used space that would accommodate both a larger new school and residential units — similar to the groundbreaking Tridel project that houses North Toronto Collegiate a few blocks south.

The TDSB’s Ryan Bird says the board “is open to creative ideas, including the concept of having new schools or satellites of existing schools constructed in mixed-use developments.”

“I would love to see something like that in that area,” says Gershon. “However I have no idea what the developer’s thoughts are.”