With a provincial election looming, Edmonton Public School trustees outlined their top priorities Thursday for the coming year.
Infrastructure — new schools to accommodate growing communities — and mental health supports in the classroom were outlined as the district’s most pressing concerns.
“We have more than 102,000 students in our district,” board chair Michelle Draper said in a news release. “Every one of those students deserves a great learning space and the mental health supports they need to be successful learners.”
READ MORE: Alberta teachers create 400K sardine can postcards to stress issue of class size
Edmonton Public School trustees said many students have to take long bus rides to get to the nearest school.
The biggest need, trustees said, is for a high school in southeast Edmonton.
“Without it, the district will be out of high school space by 2022,” the board said in a news release.
Even with the new high school opening in Heritage Valley, space is running out, the EPSB said.
READ MORE: $2.7B spent in failed bid to cut Alberta classroom sizes: auditor
Get weekly health news
In addition to new schools, the EPSB will ask for additional funding to repair some of the older buildings.
“About 60 per cent of our schools are 50 years old or older,” infrastructure committee chair Nathan Ip said. “We continue to grow 3,000 students — about 100 classrooms — per year.
“The new schools and maintenance funding we’re receiving right now simply isn’t keeping up,” Ip said.
Trustees also said more mental health supports in the classroom is key.
“We know that by age 25, about 20 per cent of Canadians will develop a mental illness, with about 70 per cent reporting their symptoms started in childhood,” mental health committee chair Shelagh Dunn said.
READ MORE: Alberta announces $5M grant to support mental health in schools
“Mental health care needs to be provided to children and youth where they are: schools.”
The board would like to see an increase in funding along with consistent funding and collaboration between the health and education systems. Currently, money can be unpredictable, trustees said, and it often comes from charitable organizations, pilot projects and grants.
The EPSB will reveal its new capital plan later in March with its top needs and asks from the province.
WATCH BELOW (Sept. 25, 2018): A new report commissioned by the Edmonton Public School Board warns “any changes to education funding have a significant impact” on its operations.
Comments