Moncton's École Champlain may be moved, replaced

The Parent School Support Committee ​at École Champlain in Moncton is pleased the provincial government has set aside money in the budget to begin planning to move or replace the school.

Parents have been complaining about air quality at the school for a decade and lobbying the government to either find a new location, or move the nearby businesses.

The school, which was built about 40 years ago, is in the middle of an industrial area.

Last month, the school was evacuated due to a strong smell of propane.

"What we're hoping at least with the news that they've put money towards the planning that it's going to start the ball rolling sooner than later in recognizing the situation — where the school is located and the number of incidents —  that hopefully that planning cycle can be moving forward as quickly as possible," said committee president Stephanie Hopper.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams said he believes it will be best to relocate the school, or build a new school in a different location.

"So that’s the first step — planning and design and working with the conceptual work. And also, with the increased population … that represented an opportunity to address the growth in population in the Moncton area," he said.

"That's the first step is when you can get to that level, that means you're on the radar. So then that's the process. Step number one, to become as a priority, planning and design, and then you move on to tender and then construction."

Hopper hopes a good location can be found.

"One thing I think that we would like to see is that the school be centrally located and still able to serve the French community," she said.

"The last thing we want to see is having a school built somewhere on the far far outskirts of town where it's actually going to dissuade parents from actually putting their kids in that school."