Province announces plan to build 9 new schools using P3

The Saskatchewan government will be investing in a public-private-partnership to build nine new schools in regions experiencing rapid growth across the province.

Premier Brad Wall along with Education Minister Don Morgan made the announcement at Saskatoon's Dundonald School Tuesday afternoon.

Saskatchewan is experiencing remarkable growth across the province, and some of it is right in the classroom, said Wall in a press release.

We need to meet the challenges of growth and have adequate infrastructure in place," he added. "This approach will put our students first, provide them with the best learning environments, and do so much quicker than government could build schools the conventional way.

The schools will be jointly used by the Catholic and public school divisions, sharing programming for students as well as maintenance costs between divisions.

Our division has been growing on average the size of an elementary school each year for the past four years, said Vicky Bonnell, the Regina Catholic School Division's Board of Education Chair. While this growth is welcome, it does strain our facilities."

Bonnell said the new schools will help alleviate the pressure of this growth.

Ray Morrison, Saskatoon's Public School Division Board of Education Chair, said they have experienced the same problems in terms of growth.

With new neighbourhoods being built, we need to ensure we can provide the right facilities to support learning for our students," said Morrison. "By providing vibrant learning spaces for our students, we are fostering their potential and building stronger communities.

In the 2013 budget the province has put nearly $120 million towards maintaining schools and managing the need for additional spaces as a result of increased enrolments.

"In some places, enrolment of students has climbed 70 percent in the last six years," Wall noted. "Some places are at 180 percent capacity."

According to Wall, the first new buildings should be under construction sometime in 2015.

"We hope to have shovels in the ground in 18 months, 18 to 20 months," Wall said.

Here's where the new schools will go: