A new Grade 7–12 school located near the Athabasca Regional Multiplex is the best option for the future of education in Athabasca.
A new school would meet the needs of students well into the future, and its proximity to both the multiplex and Athabasca University would open the door to new learning opportunities and spur greater activity in and around the currently under-utilized multiplex.
No other project, proposed or even contemplated, comes anywhere near the benefits and forward-thinking that the multiplex school proposal offers. The next closest option — modernizing Edwin Parr Composite School — is light years behind comparatively. At best, it would serve only to milk a few extra years out of an outdated facility, and would provide virtually nothing in respect to enhanced educational opportunities.
Aspen View Schools fully supports a new school at the multiplex. We fully support it, and it would seem most community residents support it as well.
Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA and Minister of Education Jeff Johnson confirmed last week that he supports it.
It’s public knowledge that Johnson has ties to property adjacent to the multiplex, where he plans to build a house. And he has acknowledged that makes the optics of the situation awkward.
Together with the Aspen View school board, Johnson has laid out a persuasive argument to mitigate concerns that a conflict of interest exists: the property was purchased before Johnson ever became an MLA; he removed himself as a director of the company that owns the property when he was required to do so; the multiplex school proposal was the result of a team planning exercise, not the direction any one individual; and Johnson has taken extra steps to remove himself from any provincial government decision regarding the multiplex school proposal. In short, Johnson is confident in his position that there is no conflict, and that position has been endorsed by the provincial Ethics Commissioner.
A team of community stakeholders commissioned by Aspen View recognized the incredible opportunities offered by a new school at the multiplex, and backed by the support of the community, that recommendation is now before the provincial government.
We are hopeful that the government will recognize that the value of the multiplex school project is more than enough to overcome any politicized arguments against it.
