SPRINGHILL – Springhill is getting a new elementary school.
Education Minister Zach Churchill announced Monday that Springhill is one of 13 communities that will get a new school or major school renovation over the next several years.
“Having a multi-year plan is in direct response to recommendations from the auditor general and Dr. Avis Glaze’s report to provide a more predictable, long-term capital plan,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Zach Churchill. “We’re putting schools in communities that have critical facility needs and most importantly, our students will get modern facilities designed with their program needs in mind.”
Work on the project is expected to begin later this year with site selection, but it could take three to five years before students and staff step foot in the new school.
The new school will replace two aging schools in Junction Road Elementary and West End-Memorial Elementary School. Those schools have been the subject of numerous complaints from parents about their condition, including leaking roofs.
“Every school on this list has been looked at through three criteria including facilty condition, enrolment and programming pressure. Springhill is based primarily on the condition side,” Churchill said. “That school has been on the list for around 10 years and having a multi-year plan with supporting budget has allowed us to take on more of those projects.”
The schools have been on the Chignecto-Central school board’s priority list for at least a decade, but kept getting surpassed by other projects across the province. This led former MLA Jamie Baillie and present PC candidate Tory Rushton to call on the province to replace the schools with a new building.
The announcement also comes on the eve of a potential byelection call in Cumberland South. The riding was vacated earlier this year when PC leader Jamie Baillie resigned his seat. The minister denied the timing of the announcement has anything to do with that vote.
“The list is based on the needs of these schools,” he said.
Elizabeth MacAloney, who has a child at West End-Memorial, is welcoming the news, but she can’t help but be a little skeptical.
“The real test for sincerity in any announcement will be once the outcome of the byelection is revealed,” she said. “At this point, we expect any announcement to come with some concrete details about the financial commitment, regardless of election results.”
She said the provincial government did not include the capital projects as part of the budget to avoid making education budgets political – as recommended by the Glaze report. However, she added, with the byelection coming in Cumberland South she said “it’s nearly exhausting and almost comical to see the timing for this announcement.”
Still, she said, Springhill’s children deserve a new school and the community will benefit for years to come.
“This is great news for Springhill,” she said.
The province is also buying two P3 schools in Cape Breton that had previously identified to be returned to the developer.
The total investment is $300 million.
This is in addition to six capital school construction or major renovation projects currently underway, and 37 P3 schools that government previously committed to purchase, announced in fall 2017.
Schools are chosen based on the priorities submitted by the Regional Centres for Education and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP). Every school on the multi-year plan was noted as a priority by the regions in which they are being built. Final selection is determined by enrolment pressures, facility condition and available funding.
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