While students enjoy the beginning of summer holidays, the superintendent from Grande Yellowhead Regional Division (GYRD) and the municipality have been discussing the on-going issue of where to house students if a new junior/senior high school is built on its current location.

According to GYRD superintendent Dean Linquist, the board has always thought that “the best place for the school is where it currently exists” although until a meeting with the municipality in April this year, it had been ruled out of discussions with the community.

However, the dilemma for the board, the municipality and the community is where do the students go while the old school is knocked down and rebuilt?

In hope of answering these questions, Linquist and the municipality, including municipal manager George Krefting and Activity Centre renovations project manager, Christopher Read, met to converse and explore the space available throughout the community. 

“We’re engaged in conversations with the town to take a look at: is there space in existing facilities?” said Linquist adding that the municipality did not want programs and offerings to the community interrupted as a result.

With about 18 to 20 classrooms needed in total, Linquist said the idea was to get seven locations for classrooms throughout the municipality and then apply to have 10 or 12 modulars from Alberta Education.

Areas such as the Jasper Activity Centre have been identified as possible classroom space.

However, even if the locations are found throughout the municipality these modulars are not currently guaranteed from Alberta Education. 

Although this is the avenue being explored, GYRD has not withdrawn the land swap request that would see the new school built on the current dog park and the land where the school currently sits returned to the municipality.

Though communication lines are open between all the parties involved, Linquist said he was not expecting a decision to be made until later this year and possibly not until December.