Edmonton Public Schools says the time is now for the construction of new schools in the division amid an “unprecedented” growth in student enrolment.
Edmonton Public Schools' Centre For Education.
Kellen Taniguchi - Edmonton Journal
Around 110,000 students currently attend a school within the division — about a five per cent increase from last year’s student population, said Trisha Estabrooks, Edmonton Public Schools board chairwoman, during the board’s first meeting of the 2022-23 school year.
“This kind of growth is great for Edmonton Public Schools, we’re welcoming new students, families and children into an amazing school division. But, on the other hand, this increase in students really does exacerbate the space crunch,” she said, adding the approval of new schools in the division is the board’s top ask of Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and the provincial government.
The board unanimously voted to approve a recommendation to its three-year capital plan for 2023-2026 on Tuesday which moves a proposed K-9 school in the Edgemont community from priority four to priority two within the division’s aggregated list of properties and new construction list of properties — a list that includes five proposed schools, including a Grade 7-12 school in Glenridding Heights which remains the board’s top priority on both lists.
The recommendation said that students in the Edgemont community are being bused to a number of different schools — elementary and junior high students being transported to three different schools and high school students in the community attending two different schools.
Around 110,000 students currently attend a school within the division — about a five per cent increase from last year’s student population, said Trisha Estabrooks, Edmonton Public Schools board chairwoman, during the board’s first meeting of the 2022-23 school year.
“This kind of growth is great for Edmonton Public Schools, we’re welcoming new students, families and children into an amazing school division. But, on the other hand, this increase in students really does exacerbate the space crunch,” she said, adding the approval of new schools in the division is the board’s top ask of Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and the provincial government.
The board unanimously voted to approve a recommendation to its three-year capital plan for 2023-2026 on Tuesday which moves a proposed K-9 school in the Edgemont community from priority four to priority two within the division’s aggregated list of properties and new construction list of properties — a list that includes five proposed schools, including a Grade 7-12 school in Glenridding Heights which remains the board’s top priority on both lists.
The recommendation said that students in the Edgemont community are being bused to a number of different schools — elementary and junior high students being transported to three different schools and high school students in the community attending two different schools.
Related video: Communication important in working through back-to-school jitters: ExpertsDuration 1:53 View on Watch
The recommendation tabled during Wednesday’s meeting also states students in the Edgemont community have the longest average bus rides this month, with elementary students riding for an average of 20 minutes and junior high students on board for 31 minutes.
Board vice-chairman Nathan Ip said he supports the recommendation, but emphasized all five schools listed as a year one priority urgently need to be built.
“In the not-so-distant future, Edmonton is projected to have a population of two million people. We currently serve a student population larger than the population of Red Deer, we’ve grown by 5,000 students this past year. While we’re talking about moving the priorities up, frankly, the reality is we need all of these schools and we needed all of these schools a long time ago,” Ip said during Tuesday’s board meeting.
“I do think that we’ve reached a crisis point. When you have a community like Edgemont being bused to three different designated schools.”
Following two school years that included online learning at some point, Edmonton schools are back to in-person learning, although, the division is still being cautious about COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. The division’s superintendent, Darrel Robertson, said five of its schools currently have a respiratory illness outbreak.
ktaniguchi@postmedia.com
twitter.com/kellentaniguchi
No comments:
Post a Comment