The province is staying tight-lipped about where four new schools coming to HRM are going.
The announcement came last year as part of Nova Scotia’s strategic approach to address our rapidly growing population, but details about where these eagerly awaited schools will be built, have not yet been released.
Minister of Education Becky Druhan says, when spots are picked, no one will be more excited than her to share the news.
“Public Works has been working on our behalf to acquire land, but also on behalf of the other departments to acquire land that would be suitable for their use. As soon as we have land that’s been identified within the province that’s available for use in schools, we will be moving forward with an announcement.”
Druhan says they have a $1 billion capital plan that is adaptable to be able to meet the current needs of the community.
She adds that they don’t want to overbuild but that is unlikely to happen over the next few years, with a consistent trend of a growing population.
They also don’t want to under build.
“We are at the point now that growth is being sustained over time and that will help with the projections to be more accurate, and we are able to rely on them for a new school design.”
She adds that if they need to increase the budget they will, to maintain existing schools and change what they need.
This has already happened in Bedford, with one new school that has already exceeded capacity.
Two modular classrooms have been added to West Bedford High School and West Bedford School to accommodate an increase in enrollment, less than one year after opening.
Druhan says school communities love the annexes which can be built in months, rather than years.
She adds that details on the designs of the new schools are still to come.
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