Government to be ‘aggressive’ on school construction, Eggen says
Alberta’s provincial budget will be “aggressive” on school construction when unveiled Thursday, Education Minister David Eggen says.
“I was told not to give specific numbers, but it’s good,” Eggen told reporters at the University of Alberta’s education building Monday.
The government will also introduce legislation this spring revamping the board structure for the Northland School Division, Eggen said.
The move will allow residents of the expansive northern school division to vote for school trustees for the first time in seven years.
Northland is currently governed by a provincially appointed trustee.
“We’re listening to the people who obviously live there, and making sure it’s a democratic structure that will be an improvement from before,” Eggen said.
Poor graduation rates, attendance rates and academic results prompted the firing of the 23-member school board in 2010.
To change the board structure, Eggen would have to amend the Northland School Division Act, which says every school in the division elects a council, and that the chairperson of each council serves as a board trustee.
He wouldn’t say what changes he wants to introduce.
Eggen was at the university as part of a tour of post-secondary institutions across the province.
He told prospective teachers they “picked the right government” for investments in education. Eggen said government will continue to fund growing student enrolment in the budget, which he said has saved and created 1,100 teaching jobs and 800 support staff positions since 2015.
Edmonton school boards have been asking the province to invest in new school construction, replacement and modernization.
The Edmonton public board has 27 projects on its wish list for the next three years, while Edmonton Catholic Schools would like to build or modernize 21 schools in that time frame.
In its 2016 budget, the provincial government had said it intended to invest $125 million in new school construction each year for the next four years.
Thursday’s budget contains more money than that for the year ahead, Eggen said: “I’m kind of excited about announcing it.”
The minister isn’t considering public-private partnerships for school construction, in which contractors can design, build, maintain and finance large construction projects, allowing governments to spread the costs over decades.
Staff and students at the University of Alberta asked Eggen about job prospects for new teachers, the multiple-choice format of diploma exams, the ongoing rewrite of Alberta’s K-12 curriculum, and the tension between religious schools and government as Eggen expects them to accommodate LGBTQ+ students and staff.