School Council/PAA

Response from Alberta's Miniter of Education to our Request for a New High School in Beaumont

Thank you for your email, which you also sent to Mr. Brandon Lunty, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont, regarding the need for a new high school in Beaumont. As Minister of Education, I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

I recognize the need for high school space in Beaumont. Both Black Gold School Division and St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Separate School Division have listed high schools in Beaumont as priorities for the 2025–28 capital cycle.

Alberta’s government is committed to investing in new schools and modernized spaces in communities where we are seeing the most pressure. Each year, school jurisdictions submit their three-year capital plans to Alberta Education. My staff reviews the school jurisdictions’ capital plan submissions and develops a capital submission for government consideration. As part of this process, Education analyzes, evaluates and prioritizes submissions and recommends the highest-needs projects across the province.

All school capital submissions are considered and prioritized based on evaluation criteria under the categories of health and safety, enrolment pressures, building conditions, functionality and programming, and legal requirements. The evaluation criteria for each category are applied to requests from all school jurisdictions, and each project is evaluated using these criteria to identify the level of need and readiness for the project to proceed.

Site readiness is an important factor in determining whether a project can be considered for approval. Black Gold School Division and St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Separate School Division are encouraged to continue working with the City of Beaumont on a plan and timeline for site servicing to support future high school spaces.

Alberta Education is committed to address rising enrolment growth, meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom, and support our education partners in delivering a world-class education that sets Alberta students on a lifelong path to success. I appreciate your advocacy on behalf of the École Secondaire Beaumont Composite High School Council and I wish you success as you finish the remainder of the 2023/24 school year.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Best,

Demetrios Nicolaides ECA PhD

Minister of Education