ATHABASCA - A $250 million injection of funds to help maintain education infrastructure around the province, will also put 3,750 Albertans back to work at a time when unemployment rates are hovering at all time highs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange made the funding announcement in Edmonton May 20 after school divisions were asked to submit a list of projects they hoped could be completed sooner rather than later and would qualify for Capital and Maintenance Renewal (CMR) funding.
“We’re getting Albertans back to work by investing in hundreds of infrastructure and renewal projects in schools across the province. This is great news for staff and students who will benefit from more modern learning environments,” said LaGrange.
Aspen View Public Schools will see $2.5 million of the overall fund, as will Pembina Hills School Division.
Aspen View board chair Candy Nikipelo said the funding couldn’t have come at a better time as the province tries to kick-start its economy after a virtual shutdown caused by the need to self-isolate to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“With no students in school, some of these projects that would normally have to wait until the summertime when there are no students. It’s nice because the schools are literally empty and you don’t have to worry about any upheaval there. That was kind of the premise behind it,” said Nikipelo.
More details are expected from the province in early June.
The CMR funding is essentially an extension of Infrastructure Maintenance Renewal (IMR) funding, which each school division is allocated for the school year. Aspen View’s 2019-20 IMR allocation was $950,000 of the $194 million fund.
Trustees discussed some of the projects on their wish list at their May 7 board meeting. These include an air handling unit and parking lot upgrades for Landing Trail Intermediate School (LTIS) in Athabasca; roof and floor replacements at Rochester and Whispering Hills; and boiler replacements at Boyle and Rochester schools.
“This is an exciting initiative from the government,” Supt. Neil O’Shea told trustees at the meeting. “Our provincial government really wants to see Albertans getting back to work. They know we need to get people employed again to get the economy going and what they are talking about is something called capital and maintenance renewal funding.”
“We didn’t reach for the stars,” said Nikipelo later. “But we put in for some important projects — boiler stuff, parking lots and just some upgrades and fix-ups to some of our schools. We’re pretty happy with $2.5 million. With a small school division that makes a lot of difference.”
The estimated cost of all the projects on CMR list submitted in April was $3.7 million, so some decisions will have to be made about getting the best use out of the additional $2.5 million.
“We don’t know exactly where that $2.5 million is going to go yet,” said Nikipelo. “They’ll get that money spent in a hurry, I know that.”
It should be noted, the IMR and CMR funding is completely separate from capital project funding. These requests are submitted by school divisions every year and approved on a case-by-case basis. The rebuild of Smoky Lake’s H.A. Kostash School, for instance, has already been approved and further modernization projects at LTIS, Smith, Grassland and Rochester were already included in Aspen View’s capital plan submission to the province.
