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New elementary school set to open in 2016

Fort McMurray is getting another public school.

The elementary school for Kindergarten to Grade 6 will hold 600 students, be built in Timberlea, and open in 2016.

Provincial Education Minister Jeff Johnson says it’s a start in addressing the issue of over-crowded classrooms, but not the solution.

“Well I think it’s a good step, I mean it’s 600 spaces,” he said.

“And we recognize that it’s not enough, and with the growth here it’s not enough. We know how important Fort McMurray is.”

The project is a part of the almost 1.4 billion dollars the Province is spending on school projects over the next three years.

Provincial Infrastructure Minister Wayne Drysdale says construction is still a ways away.

“Our architects will be designing it and putting out an RFP (Request for Proposals) on it,” he said.

“It takes about a year to get all that done, so hopefully a year from now we can do a sod turn.”

The new school will be the second public school to open in Fort McMurray in the last 26 years.

Drysdale says there is definitely more to come.

“We’ll never be done building schools in Fort McMurray,” he said.

“We’ll never be able to say that we don’t need anymore schools in Fort McMurray, and all the growing communities in Alberta, so it’s ongoing.”

 

Listen to the entire press conference with Ministers Johnson and Drysdale

[audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/evan-news/jeffjohnson_waynedrysdale.mp3]