LAC LA BICHE - A design plan for a new school in Lac La Biche County to replace Vera M. Welsh Elementary School will be ready by the end of April.
Last May, funding was made available through the Alberta government for a design plan for a new school that could replace the 51-year-old K-3 school. Then, at a meeting of Lac La Biche County council last September, a site for the school was approved for development west of the Bold Centre on municipal property.
According to Nicole Garner, Communications and Public Relations Manager for Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS), officials are on track to meet the end of April timeline that was given to the school division by Alberta Education for the design and land approval.
“Once that is done on April 30, it will be up to the government when the project proceeds to the next phase, which would be the construction phase,” Garner told Lakeland This Week. “The timeline will depend on when the project is approved for construction.”
Discussions about the project have been on-going for years. The school’s replacement has been on the top of the school division’s priority list for the last decade. During last year’s negotiations for available land, it was suggested that the school division should transfer land it owns at another location to hte Catholic school board. At one point, that transfer became a provision of any land agreement between the public school board and the municipality.
Months later, however, the provision was removed — and municipal property was approved.
School board officials are pleased to see the plans going ahead.
As noted in the NLPS 2022-2025 Capital Plan documents, there are many issues with the half-century-old building that is home to Vera M. Welsh, including a small stream flowing through the basement crawlspace.
Garner said updates will be provided on the progress of the design plan and the next steps towards the new construction.
As the plans for the new public school go ahead, area representatives from Lakeland Catholic School District are continuing to negotiate for their own municipal property in Lac La Biche to build a new school. There has been no update made available on those discussions.
