PSB says 3 new P.E.I. schools are needed to keep up with population demands

Prince Edward Island's Public Schools Branch is recommending that three new schools be built to help keep up with the province's booming population.

The PSB, which is responsible for the Island's English-language schools, conducted a study earlier this summer looking at overcrowding in Island classrooms. 

The report on that study confirmed what many teachers, students and parents already know: Space is at a premium, especially in the Charlottetown area. 

"[Staff] are very creative and try their best to make it work. However, in some situations we've had to put mobile classrooms in place," Tracy Beaulieu, director of the Public Schools Branch, told CBC News in an interview Friday. 

"Even with their most creative ideas, there is limited space available for some of the programs and some of the one-on-one spaces that are required for our students." 

PSB recommends more schools be built to keep up with P.E.I.'s population

3 months ago

Duration 2:08

The Public Schools Branch is recommending that three more schools be built to help deal with P.E.I.'s growing student population, after a recent study looking at overcrowding. That includes a junior high in Stratford, as well as two more near West Royalty School and L.M. Montgomery Elementary. We spoke to Tracy Beaulieu, the director of the Public Schools Branch on P.E.I.

The study recommended that three new schools be added: a junior high in Stratford, and one each in the areas around Charlottetown's West Royalty and L.M. Montgomery elementary schools. The PSB said the latter two schools are full, creating challenges for both staff and students.

The study reviewed historical and projected enrolments that indicated there would be growth in 10 of the 16 institutions in the Charlottetown family of schools between 2019 and 2030. 

Even waning schools could end up growing

But beyond that, the report's authors noted that even the five elementary schools currently showing a decline in student population could end up seeing higher enrolment given the amount of residential development in their intake areas. 

"The current shortage of housing for current residents and existing patterns of population growth will continue to impact our schools and require additional spaces beyond today's supply," the report said.

"At the elementary level, in particular, sufficient spaces in our neighbourhood schools will continue to be a priority need." 

The study focused mostly on the Charlottetown family of schools, which Beaulieu said is the area in greatest need of expansion. But the PSB plans to expand the research to rural schools within the next few months to get a more complete picture of the overall needs across P.E.I.

The report also recommends physical modifications and modernizations at other schools in the Charlottetown family to help free up space. 

In the coming weeks, the schools branch will host three public meetings to get feedback and hear questions from Islanders about the report. 

"There may be other information we don't have, so it's very important that we open it up for the possibility of people providing us with options that we may not have thought of — or, if nothing else, to confirm that we are on the right track and we have thought of everything," Beaulieu said.

After the public consultation phase, the PSB's board of trustees will create a report with final recommendations that will be passed on to the province with a request for action.