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Education
November 23, 2010

Consultant's Report Released on
School Infrastructure Planning for Northeast Avalon

The findings of a consultant's report looking at infrastructure planning for schools in the greater St. John's region is now available. The report, commissioned by the Provincial Government in response to the Eastern School Board's multi-year facility plan, recognized that re-organization is needed and concurred with most of the board's recommendations.

"We have known for some time that this region has a significant number of aging facilities with shifting enrolments so a plan to address the future configuration of schools is clearly needed," said Minister King. "In the interest of fiscal responsibility, this independent assessment was commissioned to give us and the Eastern School Board an objective opinion. The report presents a number of options that will help inform both the board's and government's decisions as we move through future fiscal years."

The report, completed by the BAE-Newplan Group, identified several key considerations. Individual engineering assessments were conducted for each school. While the condition of facilities in the region is mostly quite good, a quarter of the schools are over 60 years old. When projected enrolment is factored in, the region has seen a decline in enrolment of approximately 1,300 students since 2004-05 and is expected to see an additional drop of approximately 1,000 students in the next six years. The report also notes that migration is changing. While some areas of the region are seeing declines in school populations resulting in underutilization, others have witnessed significant population increases.

In response, the consultants have identified several options and recommended the following:

  • Replace Holy Heart of Mary High School;
  • Extend and renovate Beaconsfield Junior High School;
  • Close I.J. Samson Junior High and Holy Cross Junior High as soon as possible;
  • Close Bishops College and Booth Memorial when the West End High School is completed;
  • Build an extension to Roncalli Elementary;
  • Close MacPherson Elementary immediately and Holy Cross Elementary when the new elementary school replacing St. Teresa's is completed; and,
  • Close the older section of St. John Bosco and develop the remaining section; rezone junior high students from St. John Bosco to Beaconsfield Junior High School.

The report also identified additional considerations which are as follows:

  • Complete renovations to St. Andrew's Elementary (currently in progress);
  • Monitor enrolment in Holy Trinity Elementary and consider re-zoning if necessary;
  • Monitor enrolments in the west end over the next two to three years and determine if an elementary school should be closed in that region; and,
  • Defer decision to construct a new elementary school in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips until enrolments increase.

Minister King noted that the report will be turned over to the Eastern School Board. The report will be used as an information tool to assist the board in its comprehensive infrastructure planning for St. John's schools.

"We thank the Department of Education for commissioning this independent report," says Milton Peach, Chair of Eastern School District. "Minister King met with St. John's trustees regarding the review of school facilities. Now that the report is released, the Board of Trustees will review its contents and we will conduct a public consultation process with our stakeholders over the coming months with a view to reviewing our current infrastructure plan."

"It is a fact that school environments have a major impact on the quality of education that students receive and we have been working diligently to bring aging schools up to modern standards," said Minister King. "Since 2004-05, the St. John's region has already seen $131 million spent or committed for new schools and extensions and $37 million for repairs and maintenance projects. Careful analysis is required to move forward with infrastructure planning in this area to ensure we are meeting the needs of students in the most effective way possible."

The Provincial Government investing $113.5 million this year alone for major construction, repairs and renovations in schools across the province. This is more than seven times the allocation for 2004-05.

The report can be viewed at www.gov.nl.ca/edu

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Media contacts:

Tara Power
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 727-5953
tarapower@gov.nl.ca
Mary Tucker
Manager, Communications
Eastern School District
709-758-2371
marytucker@esdnl.ca

2010 11 23                                                   10:40 a.m.


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