SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
A couple of local residents say the city is moving too fast to provide a future school site in the Meadowbrook area.
Last Tuesday, the city council committee agreed to provide a letter of intent to Grasslands Public Schools for the land along 4th Avenue just south of the French school for a future elementary school.
The residents, who asked not to be identified, said the city is moving forward whether they want it or not.
“I think it’s decided ahead of time,” he said.
They added that there has been a lot of development in the area including a 112-unit apartment and now a public school near an established school.
“That’s a lot of people on one block.”
“I’m not very happy. When I first bought my house it wasn’t zoned to have the school there. So now I’m looking at having my house depreciate,” said one resident.
“You guys have rushed this through. I mean, you’re pushing it through. You’re doing it again, just like you did with the Catholic school,” they said.
Hélène Emmell, chair of the Southern Francophone Education Region, said she is pleased that another school may be constructed nearby and the Francophone Region would be open to sharing facilities.
She said there are plans starting for the field’s design but they would like to involve Grasslands in the discussion.
“We need to have a conversation. We want to partner with the city and Grasslands,” she said.
The public school board has included the future elementary school as their second priority in the 2026-2029 capital plan.
A letter of intent or land approval had to be submitted to the province by April 1.
The proposed public school along 4th Avenue East would be the first in an area of the city that is growing.
It could have a starting capacity of 450 students at the cost of $26.925 million.
The school board’s top priority is to return portables to Griffin Park School to accommodate growth and a complete modernization at the cost of $21.137 million.
The city is expected to introduce a bylaw on April 7 to redesignate the 8.20 acres parcel on Meadowlake land from public recreation and open space to accommodate the school as a municipal reserve, school reserve or municipal and school reserve site.
