For Tuesday evening’s board meeting a report has been tabled for discussion. This report was requested as a background discussion paper for our Tri-level discussion group with the city and the province. It’s a quick read but very informative as to some of the pressures the district is facing. Click here to read the report in PDF.
Most concerning is the projected urban growth map for Edmonton and in turn, the unspoken expectation for new schools in new neighbourhoods.
I believe in building a compact, livable, efficient city and seeing a plan that moves more and more families away from existing schools and infrastructure and into the suburbs does not bode well for the health and vitality of ALL neighbourhoods in our city. Every new family that moves into the suburbs mean fewer children in the catchment areas of our existing public schools. The cost of fixing and keeping older schools open is dwarfed by the enormous costs on the taxpayer of building more new schools in these new neighbourhoods.
Let’s help families move back to where the playgrounds, pools, parks, schools and other amenities already are. Strong schools and strong communities go hand in hand.
I hope that the Tri-level discussions and the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Revitalization will be able to help address this flawed urban planning model that is bleeding out the heart of our city.
Click here to read the report: http://www.epsb.ca/board/february22_11/item07.pdf
2 Responses to “New Report: “School Closures and Sustainability: Factors to consider””
Keep on keeping on Michael. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to find ways of, ‘building compact, livable & efficient cities.’ Say ‘no’ to sprawl.
Very interesting discussion topic Michael – thanks for leading it.
Part of the problem I see is affordability of housing as you get closer to the city core & empty-nesters staying put. Typical young families want to be near other young families and have enough floor space for their family to grow.