BOYLE — The Government of Alberta introduced new legislation this spring that will allow the province to take over newly built schools and school grounds, and elected officials in Boyle are questioning the logic.
Bill 51, the Education Amendment Act, received Royal Assent in mid-May and allows the Ministry of Infrastructure to take ownership of new schools from municipalities with 45 days’ notice. The government would own schools and playgrounds, and lease them back to school boards and charter schools.
Previously, school land held in reserve by the municipality was handed over to school boards for the creation of new facilities.
Other changes to Bill 51 include classifying private schools and early childhood services operators as ‘independent’, a more robust teacher discipline and complaint process, and alterations to requirements for Joint Use and Planning Agreements (JUPA) between school boards and municipalities.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the reasoning behind the centralization of school ownership is to ensure better resource management, efficiency and transparency.
While John Hilton-O’Brien, executive director for Parents for Choice in Education, called the move a “strategic victory” for independent education, councillors and admin around the municipal table in Boyle raised a number of questions and concerns during their June 18 meeting.
“After sitting in that (information session) for almost two hours, I don’t know why the government is doing this,” said CAO Warren Griffin.
“I don’t know who in Alberta Infrastructure thinks this makes sense, it really doesn’t.”
Griffin cited two decades of encouragement from the provincial government for school boards and municipalities to work together, and promises of red-tape reduction from the UCP government as reasons why he was left with more questions than answers.
“Why do I need a JUPA? Why do I need a joint-use agreement with the school board, if even the school board doesn’t own the land?” said Griffin. “Somebody didn’t think this through, at least that’s my initial impression of this.”
Aspen View School Division currently owns 11 of the school properties within the division, and has JUPAs in place with a number of municipal partners, such as Athabasca County and the Town of Athabasca, while agreements with others are in progress.
Griffin said the village’s JUPA with AVPS needs to be complete by next year, but added he’s now unsure of the point after the goal posts were changed in May.
“It seems like it’s a make-work thing, don’t they have other projects?” said Coun. Barb Smith.
“If the province wants to come in and have fingers in everything, then why are we here?” she added.
Councillors called into question the province’s reasoning of transparency and efficiency, maintaining existing agreements between school boards and municipalities aren’t lacking in those departments.
Other concerns voiced included implications for the village and other communities further down the line; under the old system, land was given back to the municipality when a school was torn down or closed. Now, councillors are unsure what, if anything, municipalities will receive when today’s new builds become tomorrow’s facilities in need of replacement.
Mayor Colin Derko expressed concern that if former school sites stay in provincial hands, the land could remain unusable for residential expansion, a key to community growth. Councillors also questioned what would happen if more land is needed for another new build.
“Then you just lose more and more and more municipally owned land to the government,” said Coun. Shelby Kiteley.
Griffin did note the changes could speed up internal provincial processes around land assessments and approvals, but maintained the amendments create problems for the other players involved.
“It’s definitely worth taking some time to look at that, because it seems counter-productive in some ways,” said Derko.
New schools eligible for provincial ownership include new builds, complete replacement builds, and the repurposing of an existing building into a school. Renovations, upgrades and maintenance to existing schools are not eligible for government takeover.
AVPS has modernization projects for Landing Trails Intermediate School, Whispering Hills Primary School, Smith, Grassland, and Boyle listed as priorities in their three and 10 year capital plans, but none of the modernizations are full reconstructions or new builds.
