Rimbey Nursery School seeks concrete barriers to enhance safety

RIMBEY -- The Rimbey Nursery School is lobbying the township for new concrete barriers in front of their building.

In a letter received by the Town of Rimbey in late January, the community-based, non-profit preschool filed a request for the municipality to consider the installation of new jersey barriers at the school. If approved, the new barriers would be located in front of the play area in the parking lot. Holly Grimsdale, a teacher at the Rimbey Nursery School, cites the need to prevent vehicular incidents like the one that unfolded last year in Ontario.

"Due to the horrible tragedy that occurred in Ontario months ago in September, concrete barriers are being put in place outside childcare facilities to prevent further tragedies from occurring," said Grimsdale in her letter to Rimbey Council. "As we play outside a lot, we ask the town for their help in ensuring our students and Rimbey families are kept safe from a similar incident."

The incident from September saw an SUV crash into a daycare in Richmond Hill, Ontario. This resulted in the death of a young boy, while six other students and multiple staff members were injured. Police at the time said that the driver of the SUV was a 70-year-old man and that there was no deliberate act on his part when he crashed through the front window of the daycare. 

Rimbey Council first discussed options for the concrete barriers at their Committee of the Whole meeting in early February and continued their discussions on the matter at their most recent regular Council meeting on Feb. 23, 2026. 

The Rimbey Nursery School was first established in 1986.