Alberta government says school construction is a top priority

Thursday was the first day of class for many students in Edmonton. But while the doors to four new schools opened in the city, the construction of several remains behind schedule.

One new Catholic school and three new public schools opened their doors in Edmonton Thursday. Next week, St. Brendan Catholic Elementary/Junior High School will open, four months ahead of schedule.

While 32 new schools and modernizations will open across Alberta this month alone, the majority of the new school projects previously announced by the former PC government will open late.

“That, quite frankly, was not fair to families,” Premier Rachel Notley said of the previous government’s commitment. “We know that it actually takes planning, foundations and funding to build schools and that’s what we’re doing.”

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Notley said her government will follow a meaningful, realistic school construction schedule.

Education Minister David Eggen said despite the tough economic times, there is now guaranteed funding and he is looking ahead to what needs to be built next.

“It’s actually a great time to build schools now and these such projects are coming in under tender quite considerably,” Eggen said Thursday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's actually a great time to build schools now and these such projects are coming in under tender quite considerably," Eggen said Thursday.

Parents at the brand new Nellie Carlson K-9 school were relieved Thursday morning when it opened in MacTaggart. Parents in the busy southwest Edmonton neighbourhood have been anxiously anticipating the opening of the Catholic school to relieve the pressure at area schools.

“It feels like Christmas morning and it’s being unwrapped,” Kelly Reynar said. “I didn’t have a whole lot of expectations about what it would look like, but it looks very modern and sleek.”

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Parents hope the province breaks ground on new projects soon, as it won’t be long until their kids need high schools.

“I don’t think it’s too early to be looking at future sites and another high school in this area,” Pam Puri-Alexander said.

READ MORE: Edmonton Public Schools looks for input about future of 15 aging schools

Next year, Edmonton Public Schools will open 11 new schools in Edmonton.

For more information on the status of schools across Alberta, visit the government’s website.

With files from Kendra Slugoski, Global News.