Photo courtesy of the Peace Wapiti Public School Division

By Curtis Galbraith

Schools

New Peace Wapiti Academy tops PWPSD wish list

Mar 28, 2020 | 7:00 AM

A replacement for Peace Wapiti Academy tops the wish list of the Peace Wapiti Public School Division.

Deputy Superintendent Darren Young says more space will be needed for the high school.

“Our long-term enrollment projections reaching 100 per cent utilization by the year 2023. Alberta Education deems a school full once it reaches 85 per cent utilization.”

Young says the student population at Peace Wapiti Academy is expected to grow between three and six per cent between now and 2023-24.

The Division also says that replacing Peace Wapiti Academy, plus the earlier announced replacement for Harry Balfour, would reduce the amount of time kids spend on the school bus.

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The other two items on the list included in the 2021 to 2024 Capital Plan are a new Kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Clairmont and modernization of Bonanza School.

Young says Whispering Ridge School is approaching full capacity and that Bonanza is one of the older schools in the Division.

He adds all 61 school boards in the province will be submitting their Capital Plans to Alberta Education.

“Alberta Education then will take all of the various Capital Plans, all of the needs around the Province of Alberta, and try to make the best decision to put their valuable and limited resources where they feel (they) might be needed most.”

Balfour doesn’t think the Harry Balfour approval will hinder the chances of seeing funding come through for a new PWA. Young says the Division is working with the County of Grande Prairie on a potential new location.