Thursday, June 14, 2007
BOARD OF TRUSTEES WELCOMES NEW SCHOOLS FOR DISTRICT
At a media conference held this morning by the Minister of Education, the Board Chair of Edmonton Public Schools welcomed the provincial government's announcement that it would build six new public schools in Edmonton.
The new schools will be built as part of a public private partnership pilot project. The Board had identified the need for these schools in the district's Three Year Capital Plan.
"The Board of Trustees has long advocated the need for new schools to serve district students," said Board Chair Bev Esslinger. "We applaud the government for listening to our concerns and providing the funding to build new schools where students live. We look forward to the positive impact the schools will have on our students."
The Board Chair said she appreciates the difficulties associated with traditional approaches to building schools and supports the government's bold move to explore the public private partnership concept for consolidated new school construction.
As the concept is a new approach for building schools in Alberta, the Board Chair said she recognizes there are still many unanswered questions and looks forward to working with the government to learn more about the details involved in using this approach.
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Jane Farrell
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