Construction of Calgary schools delayed after province rejects P3 option
Building plans for 8 Calgary schools delayed until 2017
The construction of some new schools in Calgary is being pushed back after the province decided against using the P3 option for building.
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The province announced Wednesday that it is abandoning the public-private partnership option for building 19 new schools, including eight in Calgary.
Instead it will proceed on its own with school boards and the construction will be delayed until 2017.
"We are growing by 3,000 to 4,000 students every year and that's the equivalent of growing by five to six elementary schools every year," said Sheila Taylor, the chair of the Calgary Board of Education.
"We're talking about neighbourhoods that really do need schools."
Dawn Reinhart, whose three children were going to attend the proposed Copperfield school, says it's disappointing.
"If it opened in 2016 like it was planned, my kids would get grades 3 and 4 … so if that's pushed back, they might get Grade 4 and by that point, I'm not going to pull them out of the school they're in."
Sheila Taylor says the CBE is already working on 11 school projects and she doesn't know how many more it can take on.