The province has announced St. Albert’s Paul Kane High School will be replaced with a new school in four years.
In a news release, the provincial government said the decision has been made to meet the needs of a growing population and to provide students with a more modern school.
The province said the school’s HVAC and electrical systems have outlived their useful life, and the school needs a more functional physical education and career technology studies space. Those issues can’t be fixed in a cost-effective way, the province said.
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The school project is the largest announced in the 2018 Alberta budget. Construction is scheduled to start next year and it’s expected to be complete by 2022-2023 school year.
“St. Albert is one of the fastest growing parts of Alberta, and we want to continue working with the school authority and city to ensure we meet the needs of the community,” St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud said.
“This new high school will be an important step to meeting those needs and will make life better for St. Albert’s residents.”
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St. Albert Public Schools said the new high school, which will have a capacity of 500 more students than Paul Kane, is needed because of the city’s growing population.
“They undertook the study that found this to be the best solution for student learning and strategic growth, and we are so excited to be able to begin the first phase of this initiative by building a replacement Paul Kane High School,” St. Albert Public Schools board chair Kim Armstrong said.
“This step addresses the need for an update of Paul Kane, as well as beginning to add more student space to the district.”
Paul Kane opened in 1971.
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