N.S. premier announces plan to build new school in Porters Lake for francophone students

Francophones in Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore are getting a new school built by September 2027, Premier Tim Houston announced Thursday.

Houston's announcement that the aging Ecole des Beaux-Marais would be replaced was cheered by a small group of students who were brought into the school's small gymnasium to hear the premier.

"We are committed as a government to advancing French first-language education for students through new school infrastructure," Houston said. "We've seen tremendous enrolment at this school and the need is there for sure."

Located in Porters Lake, about a 30-minute drive from Halifax, Ecole des Beaux-Marais was built in 1950 and serves the area from Lake Echo to Ship Harbour. It was taken over in 2011 by Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, which administers the province's French-language schools.

Houston said the Education Department would work with the community to design the school and to choose its location. The school will serve students from pre-primary to Grade 8.

The premier said the cost would be included in his government's new capital plan, to be announced May 29.

"We don't have a [cost] number today, but the message to the community is that our commitment is to get this done," Houston said.

The Department of Public Works will issue a tender for the design once a site is chosen.

Superintendent of schools Michel Collette said demand for French-language education in the area has grown steadily since 2011. There was an enrolment of just 12 students in 2011, he said, adding that enrolment is now nearly at capacity with 245 students.

He partly credited population growth in the Halifax region for the increase in demand, but the main reason, he said, was the community's decision to embrace a culture and heritage that had receded over the years. He characterized nearby Chezzetcook, N.S., as a lost Acadian community.

"Within this community there are a lot of families who over the years lost French, their language and their culture," Collette said. After the school was taken over by the francophone school board and boosted enrolment, "a lot of these families turned and said, `let's build this community again.' And that's what happened."

He added that a new building or even a rebuilt school on the same site would make "a big difference in the lives of students."

"So I think that modernizing or replacing this building will change the overall experience that students receive."