List of Lethbridge-area schools affected by project delays

LETHBRIDGE- It wasn’t the news parents were hoping for when Education Minister David Eggen said Tuesday projects for about 100 schools province-wide, meant to take place within the next year, were being put off.

Eggen and the NDP government are asking the auditor-general to look into the lack of funding. Eggen said he’s become painfully aware that the previous government was not clear with Alberta families about the timelines for these projects.

READ MORE: Major delay in school construction projects, says Alberta’s Education Minister

Of the schools affected by the NDP government’s project delay announcement, ten are in the Lethbridge area. Projects at Copperwood Elementary School and Wilson High School projects were previously anticipated to be delayed for a year, but are now set to be completed in September 2017.

Lethbridge School District 51 said the dates announced by the previous government were a little ambitious.

“They are different dates that were communicated two-and-a-half years ago,” explained Cheryl Gilmore, the superintendent of  School District 51. “The very original announcement for Copperwood was 2016, and the original announcement for Wilson was a year early.”

Palliser school district said they are not surprised by the delay.

“It wasn’t a total surprise that the project is going to be done a year later than thought,” said Wayne Braun, the secretary and treasurer for the district.” It was a lot to do with the design and it was an optimistic target to begin with.”

The local schools that will now have projects delayed are:

Barwell — Barnwell K-9 School (Modernization)

Lethbridge — Wilson Middle School 6 – 8 (Modernization)

Lethbridge — Copperwood K – 5 Elementary School (New Build)

Lethbridge — West Side Middle School (New Build)

Magrath — Magrath K – 12 (Modernization)

Nobleford — Noble Central K – 12 (Modernization)

Pincher Creek — St. Michael’s K – 12 (Modernization)

Stirling — Stirling K – 12 (Modernization)

Taber — DZ Ferguson / WR Myers (Modernization)

Warner — Warner School K – 12 (Modernization)

For a full list of schools and the reason the government has listed them as delayed, click here.