The fate of Hanna Primary School will likely be settled next February or March it was learned at a recent board meeting of Prairie Land Regional Division (PLRD).
At that time, Alberta Education will make its funding announcements for school divisions across the province.
Officials at PLRD are hoping their funding will include enough to modernize J.C. Charyk School so that Hanna Primary students can move into the building.
“There won’t be [funding] announcements made until February, so we’ll have to take it from there and see what we can do to accommodate the amalgamation. There’s going to have to be some significant upgrades before the schools join,” said Wes Neumeier, superintendent for PLRD.
The PLRD board has decided to use capital funding for the upgrades, rather than use infrastructure maintenance and renewal (IMR) funds, which has been earmarked for maintenance and minor upgrades to various schools in the division.
The decision to combine Hanna Primary School and J.C. Charyk was made in August after months of intense debate. The motion was brought forward in light of the age of Hanna Primary and the considerable cost of bringing it up to standards.
It was felt any money that could be used for renovations would be better spent modernizing J.C. Charyk School, which has students from Grades 4 to 12.
The board is awaiting to see what funding is available to modernize J.C. Charyk and then go from there.
“There is a motion in front of the board to amalgamate the two schools [Hanna Primary and J.C. Charyk] and they reaffirmed their commitment to that as long as we can renovate J.C. Charyk to meet the student’s needs,” said Neumeier. “The board has reaffirmed its commitment to doing this well and making sure there is funding for everything to go as planned.”
Should the funding announcement in February be favourable, work could begin on modernizing J.C. Charyk over the summer break. However, any final decision as to when Hanna Primary students make the move will wait until funding is known.
Until then, Hanna Primary will continue to operate as normal.
“They [PLRD board] believe to put the students together, there has to be adequate support and upgrades,” said Neumeier. “The board is committed to maintaining the necessities at the school as long as its operating.”