For years now, the Bonnyville-Cold Lake region has been booming, with many new families and their children making roots here. But as the area grows, many of the schools are being stretched to capacity and running well past their prime without the necessary upgrades or replacements coming in.
But, following recent announcements by the provincial government in both Bonnyville and Cold Lake, some of those educational needs will eventually come to fruition.
After years of lobbying the provincial government and advocating for school improvements, the well-worn and overcrowded Notre Dame High received the green light for “modernization upgrades” and a partial addition.
Cold Lake also received good news, as Cold Lake Elementary School is set to be replaced in approximately the next two years.
Though an exact timeline for both projects was not provided, the provincial government deserves kudos for listening to the needs of two communities within a booming region and stepping up with the funding to get these much-needed projects underway.
However, this is only a start.
Several other schools in the area are bursting at the seams. Duclos School in Bonnyville was forced to re-arrange its layout in order to accommodate the large increases in student enrollment each of the past two years. Both Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) and Northern Lights School Division are concerned about how to deal with increased enrollment again this fall.
LCSD Superintendent Joe Arruda said regarding the Notre Dame upgrades, “(The provincial government) has realized that with the economic boom in full force in this area, enrollment in this school is increasing. In fact, over the last two years enrollment at this school has increased by over 50 per cent.”
The growth and social needs in this region are certainly sincere and will continue, which means, as it stands in terms of education, the provincial government still has a lot of work to do.
