CARROT RIVER 鈥� Carrot River鈥檚 two schools will be put under one roof.
The provincial government announced $1.3 million in its March 18 budget to begin planning an expansion to Carrot River Junior Senior High School that is big enough to contain students from that high school, the local elementary school and nearby Arborfield School.
鈥淔rom the time that the planning dollars begin, it鈥檚 usually that a school is built within the next two years, so there will be more in next year鈥檚 budget,鈥� said Donna Harpauer, the province鈥檚 finance minister.
Don Rempel, the North East School Division鈥檚 director of education, said the division and the community of Carrot River are happy with the announcement.
鈥淲e know that there's lots of pressures on government. We're really grateful that government recognized the need in Carrot River and that we're moving forward with this project.鈥�
The director of education said the high school has been dealing with a major failing of the original gymnasium for years 鈥� one that鈥檚 serious enough to close the gym off.
鈥淲e knew that the next step forward would be to consolidate some schools in the area and to have a new K to 12 school in Carrot River.鈥�
Remple said the school division is talking to the Town of Carrot River and other local groups about joint use opportunities. For example, in Tisdale, the school library at Tisdale Middle & Secondary School is also the town鈥檚 public library.
When the provincial government does a major school project, it has a formula to determine the amount of space that will be required by the students. Anything beyond that, like for space for a joint use, will require fundraising and will not be borne by provincial taxpayers.
Arborfield School students won鈥檛 be automatically going to the new school once it is built.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be consulting with Arborfield and talking to them,鈥� Rempel said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very old, an end-of-life, school but there鈥檚 local voices to consider if and when those students would move into the new school.鈥�
