By Sheldon Spackman

Preparing for growth

Chinook’s Edge updates capital plan, chooses Gasoline Alley school site

Feb 7, 2020 | 9:17 AM

A growing student population in parts of the Chinook’s Edge School Division has led its Board of Trustees to approve an updated Capital Plan to address those pressing needs.

The Board approved Capital Plan 2021-2024 on Wednesday, which officials say focusses on “Sector 2” – an area surrounding the City of Red Deer, Gasoline Alley, Liberty Landing, Springbrook and the Town of Penhold.

After gaining approval from the province to address their previous top priority of an addition to Carstairs Elementary School, Shawn Russell, associate superintendent-corporate services, says they now have a new item atop their wish list.

“We’re starting to get full in our schools in the Penhold community,” explains Russell, “so we need to look at a solution in terms of that utilization and they have two possibilities to address that. One is the number one that’s listed right now in the Capital Plan, is the middle school that would replace the existing Penhold Elementary, but add more capacity by making it a bigger building.”

The other option, according to Russell, is a K-8 school in Liberty Landing in Gasoline Alley, which is currently listed fourth on the division’s capital plan.

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“(That) would also take some students out of the Penhold schools to alleviate some of the pressure there,” he notes.

Should development at Liberty Landing continue at its current pace, Russell says they would have to look at whether it’s better to have a Liberty Landing school as the number one priority or a middle school for Penhold.

Other projects of significant priority for Chinook’s Edge include a new high school for Sylvan Lake and new elementary school in Olds.

“We have a number of fairly fast-growing communities and the Board was pleased that our number one that was on our last Capital Plan was announced as part of the last capital announcement in November,” says Russell.