By Charles Lefebvre

Connaught School still waiting for modernization approval

Mar 23, 2018 | 5:02 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Sd76 continues to play the waiting game when it comes to a modernization for Connaught School.

For the second year in a row, the modernization was included in the government’s list of unfunded capital projects during Thursday’s budget. The list contains projects that meet the government’s requirements for funding, but are not being funded this year.

On Friday, the province announced $398 million in funding for 20 schools, including new construction and modernization. No school from Medicine Hat was on the list.

“While it’s disappointing not to be in this round of announcements, I’m mindful of the fact that our jurisdiction has been very active in capital building and modernizations in the course of the last six of seven years,” said SD76 superintendent Mark Davidson, over the phone from Edmonton on Friday. “We certainly believe that that project will get approved at some point, of course we don’t know when.”

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Connaught School has been the number one priority for SD76 in their three-year Capital Plan for the last two years. The school is housed in a building that was constructed in 1912, and hasn’t had a lot of work done since a new addition was built in 1952.

“It’s a beautiful building, certainly one that the board and the community at large would like to see maintained,” said Davidson. “It’s a full school, it houses our French immersion programming K to 6, and also students in English language programming. It’s a school that we need, and certainly one that gives us space to offer really important programming to our children.”

While hopeful that the province will eventually approve the modernization for funding, Davidson adds he knows the board could be waiting a while.

“You’re optimistic that it will come at some point, but when is certainly something we don’t control,” he said. “So, you remain optimistic that it will happen, but you have to be realistic in terms of not getting to excited about when.”