Public and Catholic school board trustees in the Lakeland region were in closed-door meetings the day after Premier Danielle Smith announced a new $8.6 billion plan to build new schools to meet the surging enrolment of students in provincial schools.
The Lac La Biche Post newsroom contacted the media relations offices of both the Northern Lights Public School division (NLPS) and the Lakeland Catholic School Division on Wednesday, Sept. 18 for a comment on what the announcement could mean for Lac La Biche schools that are already in preliminary planning stages – a new Catholic school and a replacement for Vera M. Welsh Elementary School – as well as future projects.
Communications officers for the public and Catholic school boards stated that more information-along with statements regarding the reaction to this provincial program from educational officials and members of the divisions’ respective boards of trustees-would be released in the coming days.
The announcement
According to the Government of Alberta, and Premier Danielle Smith in a televised address to the province on Tuesday night, more than 200,000 spaces for students will be created through the School Construction Accelerator Program. Furthermore, starting in 20245, for every year over a three-year period, the government will start the construction of upwards of 30 new schools and with as many as eight modernizations of current buildings and replacement schools.
An informational release from the provincial government explained that the program will also speed up the construction of schools by allowing projects to be approved “in-year” for the next stage of the building process without the requirement to wait for the next budget cycle.
In a statement, Smith said with many people moving to Alberta, the government is responding by funding and building schools that are needed in communities whose populations are quickly growing.
“Every student deserves a quality education in a school that can meet their learning needs and set them on a path to success in the future,” the premier said. “As we build, we’re asking school boards and municipalities to work with us so we can get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.”
