On May 10, MLA Brandon Lunty (Leduc-Beaumont) and MLA Andrew Boitchenko (Drayton Valley-Devon) joined Black Gold trustees, senior administrators and school staff for a tour of École Secondaire Beaumont Composite High School (ÉSBCHS) to see first-hand how the rapid population growth in Beaumont is posing significant challenges for the school.
“While we are grateful to the Province for approving the construction of Ohpaho Secondary School, and more recently, funding for the modernization of École Corinthia Park School, through this tour we really wanted to highlight the critical need for a new high school in Beaumont,” said Board Chair Esther Eckert.
All schools in Beaumont are reaching or starting to exceed their capacity limits. As the city’s only high school, ÉSBCHS is currently at 101% utilization, and is projected to reach 120% utilization by September 2026.
“The Division is placing a fourth modular classroom on the school grounds to try and keep up with enrollment growth; however, the available space to install additional modulars is greatly limited,” said Superintendent of Schools Michael Borgfjord.
According to school staff, ancillary spaces such as libraries, student services and more are now too small to adequately serve the student population. Staff are at the point where they will be stacking three PE classes at the same time when only two gymnasiums are available.
The Career and Technology Studies (CTS) lab spaces are currently oversubscribed. Next year, the school will not be able to honor around 50 percent of student requests for Automotives and Culinary Arts programming.
“Increasing student demand and the lack of available lab spaces clearly indicates the need for a second high school equipped with appropriate lab facilities, so that we can continue to support training in the skilled trades,” said Trustee Devonna Klaassen.
Parking at the high school is also inadequate, and the spillover is adversely affecting the adjacent neighbourhoods as students seek alternate parking spots.
To address the overcapacity issues, the Black Gold School Division, the City of Beaumont and the St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Separate School Division have identified a joint school site in the Élan neighbourhood to meet the needs of both school boards.
Beaumont City Council has committed this municipal-owned land for a joint high school, and is funding the construction of utilities and other services to the site by next spring.
“With the City’s assurance in place, we took the tour as an opportunity to ask MLAs Lunty and Boitchenko for their assistance in advocating for a funding announcement by the Province in next year’s budget for the design and construction of the new high school.” said Beaumont Trustee Robyn Steed.
“We are truly appreciative of MLA Lunty’s support and willingness to champion the needs of our students in Beaumont,” said Board Chair Eckert. “And even though the city is not in his riding, we are grateful for MLA Boitchenko’s offer to help Brandon advocate for the new high school.”
They also discussed possible solutions to the overcrowding issues to ensure the continued delivery of high quality education for students at the school.
“The MLAs’ visit was very positive; they wanted to know about the challenges we are facing and were very receptive to our concerns,” said Principal Stiles. “I was also proud to see our students advocate to their elected officials about the necessity of a new high school to help ease the pressures on our school.”