The Provincial government is providing funding to schools so they can plan out their projects, including one in Okotoks.
When a school is built or renovated, a major part of the work is the planning of the design, the location, classroom layout, and more to make sure the school is serving the community in the best way possible.
Because of that, the provincial government is providing pre-planning funding to school boards, which will help to ensure proposed projects are ready to move to the construction process, as well as helping the school board to engage with the community and parents, which will help the school plan for their students.
"We continue to be committed to building and renovating schools now, so we can keep up with increasing numbers of students and growing pressures on our education system. We already have more than 130 school projects underway, and we are keeping our foot on the gas pedal. This pre-planning money is helping school boards create strong project ideas for potential schools in their communities," explained the Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides, in a media release.
The information that is gathered in the pre-planning stage allows school boards to submit a project proposal that is better prepared to be considered for funding from the provincial government.
Even though many of the projects that receive pre-planning funding from the government eventually move to the next stage, not all projects that receive that pre-planning funding move forward with the project.
Currently, there are 24 projects receiving pre-planning funding, and one of those projects is for Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools.
According to Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, they received planning funding for a new high school in Brooks, as well as pre-planning funding to investigate the relocation of the temporary gymnasium structure that is currently being used at École Good Shepherd School to St. John Paul II Collegiate, once the new replacement school is built.
This pre-planning funding is on top of $8.6 billion in funding the Alberta government announced for the School Construction Accelerator Program, which will help to speed up school construction.
Through that funding, over 100 schools will be built or renovated in Alberta over the next seven years.
When a project receives pre-planning funding, the government will typically provide the school board with $50,000, but that amount may vary depending on the required pre-planning requirements.
To read more about the funding and to see the full list of School Boards receiving pre-planning funding, click here.