The provincial government announced this week a new school for the west end to replace Hillcrest and Bessborough Schools.
Hillcrest currently has 160 students. Some parents are concerned if student numbers decline, there might be a risk of closure prior to the new school being built.
Anglophone East District Education Council member Norval McConnell says they have no plans of doing that.
“The DEC, or the School District has no plans to close Hillcrest prematurely to the new school opening. None. We’ve made that committment to the PSSC at Hillcrest. We have no plans of doing that. That would be counterproductive to the process. There will be challenges for both those schools, now that they are slated to close, but we have no plans of closing them earlier. None whatsoever,” McConnell says.
Premier Brian Gallant announced this week that $1.5 million has been allocated in the 2018-2019 budget for the new school.
“We’re putting money aside now to start the planning. We want construction to start as soon as possible for this infrastructure, but with that said, it does take a few years,” Gallant told Reporters on Monday.
There’s no word on where the school will be built, or a total cost for the new facility.
Hillcrest school was built in 1954 and Bessborough School in 1958.
