When the provincial government unveils its budget on March 18, Holy Trinity Catholic School Division will hope to hear good news about funding for a new school and upgrades to an existing school.
Every year the Catholic division submits to the Ministry of Education its top two capital projects and a request for funding for them. This year the division has asked for money to renovate École St. Margaret School, replace six existing portable classrooms, and add two more classrooms. It has also asked for funding to build a new St. Michael School.
The cost to renovate St. Margaret School will be at least $3 million since each relocatable classroom costs roughly $500,000. The cost to build a new St. Michael School is expected to be $20 million to $25 million.
The portables at St. Margaret have been at the school for many years and are now beyond their life expectancy, explained education director Sean Chase. The division is struggling to maintain them at a sufficient level.
“That’s not a new one. We’ve been submitting that for a number of years to the Ministry of Education for them to know that that’s a priority for us,” he said. “There’s only so much maintenance you can do on those types of structures. They’re not designed to be a permanent build.”
There are 204 students enrolled at St. Margaret this school year. The division projects that figure will decline to 171 by the 2026-27 school year.
Meanwhile, St. Michael is near the end of its lifespan, so the division wants to see a new school in the West Park neighbourhood. Holy Trinity has also been conducting planning and looking at future growth in northwest Moose Jaw.
A new school wouldn’t be much bigger than the current one, said Chase. The school’s enrolment now is 327 students, while the division projects that figure to increase to around 400 pupils in the next decade. Chase pointed out that that is a guess since a developer is sitting on land in the northwest and has not begun to build yet.
A new school could be constructed in the same neighbourhood, or even on the same 1.6-hectare (four-acre) site, he continued. However, if the developer builds a new subdivision in West Park, the school could be built there if land is available. The preference, though, would be to use the existing boundaries of the school.
The application for provincial funding for these two projects was presented during the recent Holy Trinity Catholic School Division board meeting. It contained information about the challenges each school faces structurally.
At St. Margaret, the exterior stucco is peeling and cracking; windows’ exterior glazing seals are failing and wood casings are rotting; and there is poor drainage around the building. With the six portables, there is floor deterioration due to water damage; there are air quality issues due to that deterioration; site grading is poor; it will cost $120,000 to replace the HVAC system; and two more classrooms are needed to accommodate students from St. Agnes School since that building is at overcapacity.
Meanwhile, St. Michael was built in 1956, with eight additions constructed between 1958 and 1988. There are significant structural issues, such as cracks in the concrete slab and shifts in the gym’s concrete block walls. Other issues include poor grading around the school; minimal ventilation; outdated plumbing; undersized student washrooms; no additional nearby green space; and limited staff parking.
To renovate the school would cost $12.3 million, or $13.5 million at a higher estimate. However, said the report, the renovations would still limit the functionality of the school, while future renovation costs would increase since the building is 62 years old.
Increased enrolment would require more classrooms; the music room, science lab, and computer lab have already been converted into classrooms to accommodate the growth.
The next Catholic board meeting is March 16.
