By Curtis Galbraith

Opening of Whispering Ridge school delayed

Jan 25, 2018 | 12:05 PM

The Peace Wapiti School Division says a contractor going into receivership has delayed the opening of a new school.
 
The opening date for Whispering Ridge Community School has been pushed back to September 4.
 
The original date was right after spring break.
 
Superintendent Sheldon Rowe says a new contractor is in place.
 
“We have a great company on site right now. They’re doing the mechanical and all of that has moved on. But, we’ve also now gotten out of synch with all the other contracts because they’re committed to working on other schools elsewhere in the province and we had to rebuild a path forward.”
 
Rowe says the Division should get the keys for the new school June 1, but officials do not think that would be a good time to move.
 
“I think parents have their daycare plans and times set. They’re used to the transportation times, pick-ups and drop-off. They’re used to the transportation service. Currently, the kids are safe at Harry Balfour School. Yes, it is crowded, but they’re safe and everyone is used to the service and the place.”
 
He does not expect any more troubles.
 
“We’ve worked our way through the wet weather that we had. We worked our way through acquiring some of the trades that were in short supply. We’ve worked our way through the receivership of a major company that was providing service to us.”
 
The Division says in a release students and staff should be able to take tours of the new school in June.