The St. Albert Public School district is eyeing a new high school in Erin Ridge and hoping the city will sign on as a partner.
During city council's standing committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 13, school trustees and senior leadership gave a presentation updating plans for a new high school in St. Albert. Council heard a project proposal has already been submitted to the provincial government, and the board is eagerly awaiting the province's announcement on capital funding in the near future.
In discussion with council, the school board asked if the city would be interested in partnering with board on any of the amenities in the school building, such as an expanded library or a larger-than-planned gymnasium.
"The model that's been done in other cities in Alberta would see the city expanding areas that would already exist in a large high school, to the benefit of the community," said St. Albert Public Schools spokesperson Paula Power in an email. "For example, a larger gym or a larger theatre."
"We think, especially in these times of heightened financial positions of both the city and school boards, that it was really an opportunity to take advantage of some of the synergies and cost efficiencies that could come from partnering in this facility," trustee Kristi Rouse told council.
In an email, Mayor Cathy Heron said she was pleased the school board approached the city before the province makes its decision, as further discussions and time will be needed to figure out if a partnership is possible.
"There are many synergies between a high school, and cultural or recreational offerings we could partner on," Heron said, without offering examples.
Coun. Mike Killick told the Gazette he thinks whether the city can make a partnership work will require some council debate in the new year.
"They made an offer to work with us and now we have to figure out how we're going to respond back, and kind of flesh out some of the next steps," Killick said.
The school board's proposal is for public-private partnership (P3) build. A P3 involves a private company building publicly owned infrastructure, with payment coming from the province. According to the provincial government's website, the benefit a P3 project provides is essentially an extended warranty, meaning that if problems arise during construction, as in the case of Edmonton's Valley Line LRT project, the responsibility for additional costs falls on the company, rather than public funds.
"I think that for every one that you could potentially throw out as a failure, you'd probably find something where it was beneficial," Coun. Ken MacKay said, when asked if he had any concerns about using a P3 model to build a school, which hasn't been done before in St. Albert.
He also said the difference between building a school compared to an LRT line is significant, as a school build comes with less risk.
Rouse and Superintendent Krimsen Sumners told council the design is similar to the new Paul Kane High School building set to open in January.
The decision to locate the school in Erin Ridge North is because the area is underserved, council heard.
"Our division is growing at significant rates and we're well on our way to the 10,000 student mark," trustee Kim Armstrong said. "Over the last 10 years we have increased our enrolment by 34 per cent."
