New Schools in Nakota Isga
A question I heard a lot at the doors during the most recent election, especially in the communities outside the Henday, was regarding when new schools might be built. This is also important for the communities of Britannia Youngstown Community League, Canora Community League, High Park, and Mayfield Community League YEG since there are plans for replacement schools.
While the City doesn’t really have a say in the construction of new schools, I want to share some information to help answer the questions I received.
The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) and the Edmonton Catholic School Division (ECSD) each develop three year capital plans. These plans are done every year and they are used to help inform the provincial government about what the top priorities are for new schools. The photos included in this post include the summary of both the EPSB and ECSD Capital Plans.
There are some key pieces of information that I want to highlight:
1) Just because a school is identified on the Capital Plan for 2022, 2023, or 2024 doesn’t mean it will be built in those years. The provincial government is responsible for approving the funding to advance these schools. Therefore, how quickly a school is built is primarily dependent on the annual provincial budget.
2) The school boards can change the prioritization each year so if a school at the top of the list isn’t funded by the provincial government, it is possible it may drop down the list or be removed in a future year.
3) Sometimes the builders in new communities promote that a school will be built in the community. In many cases, they don’t include the additional information in this post so people assume they are already approved when they almost always aren’t.
As you can see in the images, there are 2 Public schools and 1 Catholic school identified for priority in 2022. The public schools are the replacement schools in Britannia Youngstown and Mayfield (both are currently fifth on the EPSB list). A few years ago, a decision was made by EPSB to consolidate Brightview School, Britannia School, Youngstown School, and Mayfield School into 2 new schools. 1 would be in Britannia Youngstown and 1 would be in Mayfield. The Catholic school would be located in the Secord Community League area (currently second on the ECSD list).
For 2023 and beyond, there are no other Catholic schools on the capital plan and 2 public schools: 1 in Edmonton Rosenthal Community League and 1 in Hawks Ridge (numbers 10 and 13 on the list respectively).
What does this all mean? If the provincial government were to fund all the asks for 2022, we would start to see some of the gaps addressed. Unfortunately, that’s a big if. Realistically, I don’t think we are going to see more than a handful of schools approved across the province in 2022, if any. I hope I’m wrong but I want to be realistic while also offering some suggestions as to what you can do to try and help make these schools a reality.
One of the most important things you can do is to reach out to the Minister of Education (Adrianna LaGrange), the Minister of Finance (Travis Toews), the Premier, the sole UCP MLA in Edmonton (Kaycee Madu), and your local MLA (Jon Carson for most of you outside the Henday and then either Lori Sigurdson, Lorne Dach, or Sarah Hoffman for those inside the Henday. You can find your MLA using this link (https://www.assembly.ab.ca/.../members-of-the-legislative...)
They need to hear from you that these schools are important to you. These schools aren’t cheap and so they need to know that you are willing to have the provincial government invest in schools. If they aren’t hearing from you, they are far less likely to consider funding these schools.
When you reach out to them, feel free to share whatever information you want but I’ll offer one specific piece of information that would help to push the Catholic school I met with Trustee Terry Harris a few days ago and he shared the following with me about Bishop David Motiuk school: “Bishop David Motiuk Elementary / Jr. High is currently at 113% capacity and the current forecast is for it to be on its way to 148% over the next 5 years with full build out of the neighbourhoods in the area.” I’ll also work to try and get similar information for the public schools that are currently operating.
Running over-capacity is not great for the children who are attending and we need to ensure there is appropriate space to allow for the most effective learning environment. You are welcome to include that information in any correspondence with the provincial government.
I’d also encourage you to connect with your school board trustees. You can find out who your trustee is using this link for EPSB (https://epsb.ca/ourdistrict/board/trustees/findmytrustee/) and this link for ECSD (https://www.ecsd.net/page/14498/board-of-trustees. It’s important to engage them regarding the capital plans. For example, for those in Big Lake Community League, I spoke to Trustee Harris about the removal of the Catholic school in Starling from the capital plan and asked if there is at least consideration for residents in Big Lake to be able to attend the proposed Catholic school in Secord. If not, a further push to reintroduce that school on the capital plan would be critical.
As mentioned at the start, I get asked about schools a lot and beyond ensuring there is land designated for a school in new communities, our other role is advocating to the school boards and provincial government for the residents in the communities we serve. I’ll continue to push from my end but if you are eager to see a school in your area, please consider the information above and make sure to reach out to your trustee and representatives from the provincial government. Thanks for your time and if you have any questions, please let me know.
