École Champlain being moved away from industrial park
New school slated to open in September 2016 after years of complaints about air quality
A Moncton school is being moved away from an industrial park after a decade of complaints by parents and staff about air quality issues.
“Our students and staff need a healthy, safe, and positive learning environment," she said in a statement.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2015, with the new school slated to open in September of 2016, Blais said.
"Today is a great time of celebration for the school community of École Champlain," said Stephanie Hopper, chair of the École Champlain Parent School Support Committee.
"We are fervently looking forward to the beginning of the construction and the opening of the new school," she said.
Parents have been lobbying the provincial government to either find a new location for the school, or move the nearby businesses.
Earlier this year, the school was evacuated due to a strong smell of propane gas.
Building a new school will also ease pressure on the Francophone South School District, which includes École Le Mascaret and École L’Odyssée, the education minister said.
The building will accommodate up to 780 students, from kindergarten through to Grade 8, with 34 classrooms and five kindergarten classes, said Blais.
It will also include a science lab, arts and music rooms, a technology room, two multipurpose rooms, an early childhood room, a library, a cafeteria, and two gymnasiums, she said.
École Champlain was built about 40 years ago.