Capital and Facilities Projects
The Province provides funding for school capital projects and the Division is wholly dependent on provincial approvals to address its facility needs.
The Division has been fortunate in the last few years with modernizations and new construction projects in Ashmont, Two Hills, St. Paul and Elk Point. The Division is in relatively good shape with respect to facilities and student capacity.
Current Projects
A new K-12 replacement school with a capacity for 900 students was opened in Ashmont in September 2018. The subsequent insolvency of the general contractor delayed the final exterior site work and the Division has been “grant funded” to arrange for completion of this outstanding work. The majority of this work was completed over the summer months of 2021, and only a few minor outstanding items remain to be completed in the summer of 2022
Capital Priorities
Capital priorities for future projects include a replacement School in Mallaig and Elk Point and a modernization for the Myrnam School.
A value management study outlining options for Ecole Mallaig School was released in the fall of 2018. A geotechnical site assessment and hazardous building materials assessment have also been completed, funded by planning dollars from the Government of Alberta. The proposed Mallaig project is in a strong position to get started if approval were granted.
Infrastructure Maintenance Renewal(IMR)/Capital Maintenance Renewal (CMR)
Prior to the 2019/20 school year, the Division received an annual IMR allocation. The 2019/20 school year saw the introduction of CMR funding that was initially described as stimulus funding to support local economies due the impacts of COVID-19.
The 2021/22 funding allocation was split between IMR and CMR. The CMR portion is to be directed to projects that are larger in scale and are to be capitalized while the IMR would be relevant for smaller projects or those that would normally not be capitalized. The split is approximately 48% IMR and 52% CMR.
For the 2022/23 School Year, the CMR allocation has been reduced and the split is approximately 60% IMR and 40% CMR with a total allocation of approximately $865,625. This is a reduction in the overall funding of $222,003 from the year prior.