Education Minister David Eggen says he plans to work with his counterparts in the departments of municipal affairs, transportation and infrastructure to make sure Morinville has a new, secular public school built in a timely manner.
“We have a number of suggestions from the municipality and the school board as to how to overcome some roadblocks,” Eggen said Wednesday.
The minister’s comments came after his Wednesday meeting with Morinville mayor Lisa Holmes and school board representatives from Sturgeon School Division to discuss the challenges that have delayed the school’s construction.
The inclusion of the other provincial departments is encouraging for the school board and mayor.
“The minister confirmed the area of responsibility of each party and the need for not only this site to be sized appropriate, but that there are other additional concerns with street frontage and access,” said Tracy Nowak, board chair for the Sturgeon School Division.
“We gave the best site we could for the timeline,” said Holmes. “It’s got issues. We’ve all said that from the beginning, but we’re willing to work together to get through those issues to make sure the school happens in Morinville soon.”
The town currently does not have a secular junior high school.
Last week, town council slammed the school division after the brakes were put on the long-awaited new public junior high.
The decision to pause the project was supported by the province and a letter was sent to parents to inform them construction of the new school was being delayed.
“I don’t believe that letter (to parents) was critical, it was really just informing our parents about the status of their new school and really try to elevate the conversation so we can get over some of these hurdles and get that new school built,” Nowak said.
READ MORE: Gloves come off in fight over new public school in Morinville
The school division said the sites chosen by the town for the new school were inappropriate while town council said no other site was available, the current site is serviced and there was a desperate need for a new school.
The province had said it won’t intervene in the matter but wanted to bring municipal partners to the table to come up with a solution.
“Determining school sites is the responsibility of the school boards and municipalities,” said Jeremy Nolais, spokesperson for the minister of education.
READ MORE: Morinville parents fight for higher-level secular education
The long-awaited public junior high would be the town’s first secular junior high. Morinville got its first secular elementary school several years ago.
The new $25-million school was expected to open in fall 2017 but the completion date is now uncertain. Eggen re-committed that the money allotted for the school will remain available.
A public meeting about the new school will be held in the Morinville Council Chambers next Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 6. p.m.
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