The Timberlands neighbourhood will be home to a kindergarten to Grade 5 school in three years.
Red Deer Public Schools board of trustees unanimously approved the site at the east end of Timothy Drive, north of 61st Street and east of 30th Avenue, on Wednesday night.
“The location is the future vision,” said board chairman Lawrence Lee. “We see the development and growth and the potential of that site in its raw form to be the best option available to us right now.”
Several trustees, however, raised concerns about how the location will relieve the pressures in the district’s southeast schools, such as Mattie McCullough Elementary and Mountview Elementary.
In previous capital plans, the district anticipated building a school in the Aspen Ridge neighbourhood to alleviate the pressures. Given the housing trends, future growth and projected student enrolment, the board considered new options.
Trustee Bill Stuebing supported the Timberlands location with some reservations. Stuebing said the district needs a new elementary school and a middle school in southeast Red Deer. He said this would have been the most efficient way to deal with increased enrolment in the area.
“The reality is we are getting one school,” said Stuebing. “We need the additional capacity period. But in the long run we’re going to be using busing a lot to handle enrolments in south Red Deer.”
To address its growing needs, the district will look to change school boundaries in the future.
The elementary school will have a capacity of 600 students.
The other option on the table was in the Davenport neighbourhood on Dempsey Street, north of 39th Street and west of Drummond Close. This site was deemed too small for a school and would not serve future student needs.
Todd Jansen, who lives on Dentoom Close, collected signatures from 23 neighbours who were concerned about the potential spot in Davenport.
The elementary school was part of the 22 new schools that were announced by Alberta Education and Alberta Infrastructure in late May.
The Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools was also given the construction go ahead for a new elementary school. The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region is considering a site in Anders East neighbourhood to replace the aging Ecole La Prairie.
In Penhold, Chinook’s Edge School Division will build a high school near the Multiplex. All schools are expected to be open by September 2014.
In other board news:
l The board will look into an online public engagement strategy.
l The board will write a letter of support to the Red Deer Association for bicycle commuting indicating its support for the installation of bicycle lanes that lead to schools.
l The board will advise the City of Red Deer that it is prepared to redesignate the school site at Allan Street and Avery Street for use by the Greater North Central Francophone Education Region, conditional on municipal approval of the site for a new Francophone kindergarten to Grade 12 school.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com