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Trustees vote for new school in southeast

A new school in the southeast part of the city is the top priority on the Red Deer Public School District’s wish list.

A new school in the southeast part of the city is the top priority on the Red Deer Public School District’s wish list.

The public school district’s board approved the capital plan to be presented to the provincial government in May, with a new 450-capacity kindergarten to Grade 5 school in the Aspen Ridge neighbourhood being at the top of the list.

The provincial government hasn’t yet come forward with funding for the facility, but the division would like to see it open as soon as possible.

A school is generally considered to be full when it has an 85 per cent utilization rate, but the four kindergarten-to-Grade 5 elementary schools in Red Deer public’s southeast sector have an overall utilization rate of 104 per cent.

Also topping the priority list is the taking over River Glen School from the Chinook’s Edge School Division to house the Gateway Christian School program.

Bill Stuebing, chair of the Red Deer Public School District, said with the school having the facilities for a Kindergarten to 12 school already and being close to Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School make it appealing for the board to acquire for the Gateway Christian program.

Further down on the list of priorities is the construction of a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in the Timberlands neighbourhood in northeast Red Deer, which the school district would like to see open in the fall of 2011, and modernizations at both Annie L. Gaetz Elementary School and Westpark Middle School.

The capital priorities were realigned after the district worked on the Regional Capital Planning Study with other local school divisions in the area.

Initially the Timberlands project was higher on the list.

Stuebing said while he approves of the public school district having the Aspen Ridge School built and taking over River Glen for the Gateway program, he fears that a school in Timberlands has now been relegated to a future need and may be years away, even though it is needed right away.

“For us that future need is going to be upon us very quickly,” he said.

sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com