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Board of Trustees Approves Replacement School for Greater Lawton Area

Wed, 25 Jun, 2014

At yesterday's public board meeting, Trustees unanimously approved the construction of a replacement school at the Rundle site in the Greater Lawton area. They also approved a motion to consider the the closure of R.J. Scott, Rundle and Lawton schools. The District aims to keep these schools open until the new school is ready for students.

On January 21, the provincial government announced funding for a mature neighbourhood replacement school that would involve consolidating three or more schools into a new K-9 site. One of the requirements was that the new school location be announced by the end of June 2014 and then the older schools would be recommended for closure. In the late summer/early fall, the board will approve a recommendation to close the schools. The schools will close at a later date once the new school is open.

Edmonton Public Schools chose three clusters – with two elementary and one junior high – as possible sites for the new school. The three clusters were the Greater Highlands area, the Greater Lawton area and the Greater Westmount area. The district sought public feedback via two public surveys, three rounds of public meetings in each cluster site and two meetings with central staff and principals.

After reviewing all the feedback, the District recommended to the board that the new replacement school be built in the Greater Lawton area on the Rundle site.

“We’re really glad all three communities came out and participated in the consultation meetings,” said Board Chair Sarah Hoffman. “We want to work with every community to deliver excellent public education. We are very excited to invest $20 million into the Greater Lawton neighbourhood."