School Site Selection - Community Input - Question Period
CLAUDIA CHENDER « »: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. The school site selection process used to be guided by a board-level site selection committee that included SAC members, school board members, the African Nova Scotian representative and the Mi'kmaw representative, as well as members of municipal council. The average consultation period was around six months.
After the announcement of a new school for the Musquodoboit area, Musquodoboit Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce President Kent Smith met with the minister, who indicated that there would be opportunities for public engagement in the new site selection process. That hasn't happened, and unfortunately the regulations state only that the information must be provided to the public. They do not establish any process for consultation.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister explain how communities are supposed to provide input into the new school site selection process?
HON. ZACH CHURCHILL « »: The changes we made are very simple - we've gone from a very convoluted process that was not driven by a technical evaluation of sites. Oftentimes community members were discussing and recommending up to a dozen sites, many of which in many circumstances weren't even viable from a technical perspective - they couldn't get power, they couldn't get water, they weren't large enough. We've changed that process to do the technical evaluation first.
Engineers and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal work with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to do the technical evaluation of potential sites. We begin with the current site of the school, if we're replacing that school; we then look to close Crown land opportunities; we then look at private sector opportunities.
As soon as the technical evaluation is done and we have sites we know are viable, we go to the public to solicit feedback.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « »: Wouldn't it make sense to include what is actually viable for the communities who attend the school? The Musquodoboit Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce has been trying to engage with the minister in this process. They are concerned about the minister's consideration of a proposal that would have the school moved out of their community and into a business park.
The chamber provided the department with a community development plan and a business case for consideration in selecting a site for the school that is within the village core. However, it is unclear how decisions about school site selection are being made. In response to a freedom of information request, our caucus received a May 2018 email regarding Eastern Shore District High which states: Site planning already done for this one, and includes an attached concept plan.
Mr. Speaker, will the minister confirm if a decision has already been made regarding the siting of the school?
ZACH CHURCHILL « »: A decision has not been made for the site of that school. The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce is one of many voices in a very large community that has an interest in where this school is going to be put. Their input will be considered, as will the variety of opinions because there are many who don't agree with the opinion of that.
What we are doing here, Mr. Speaker, makes sense, it's reasonable. We're not going to ask the community members to consider sites that are unviable, where we can't build a school, where we can't supply that school with power or water or sites that aren't large enough. That's not responsible to do.
It has created frustrations and divisions in communities in the past. We're fixing this to not only make sure that the important technical engineering work is done first before we go to the community, but to make sure we avoid delays in school construction, as happened under previous administrations.