Updated 3-Year Capital Plan Refines Board Priorities

At its March 19 public meeting, the EICS Board of Trustees approved the 2026-2029 3-Year Capital Plan and the 2025-2034 10-Year Facility Plan, which outline the division’s priorities for school construction, modernization, and long-term planning.

These plans are updated annually to reflect the division’s evolving needs and to present compelling funding requests to Alberta Education for future capital projects.

Priority 1: K-4 School in Fort Saskatchewan

The top priority in the updated capital plan is to seek $25.1 million in funding for the design and construction of a new 540-core capacity Kindergarten to Grade 4 school in Fort Saskatchewan. This funding would result in the consolidation of Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) and St. John XXIII Catholic schools and also include the demolition of OLA once the new school is operational.

The City of Fort Saskatchewan has designated land in the Forest Ridge community for the location of the new school.

This design and build request follows the value scoping and public engagement that was held with our school communities in Fort Saskatchewan in the first half of 2024. For more on that, see our Planning for the Future in Fort Saskatchewan web page.

Presenting the capital plan to the Board, Secretary Treasurer Tracy Leigh explained that funds are not being requested to demolish the St. John XXIII building as it offers valuable surplus for the division once the new school is operational.

Since no provincial funding has been acquired for the design and build phases, there are no timelines for this project at this time.

Priority 2: Pre-Planning for Sherwood Park

The second priority seeks $120,000 to conduct value scoping and public engagement in Sherwood Park. The goal is to explore options for increasing school utilization rates and enhancing learning environments.

The value scoping would include a cost/benefit analysis of the long-term maintenance cost of keeping underutilized sites running versus the cost of operating a new, more efficient consolidated school.

Leigh told the Board that this priority was amended from a year ago to remove language that suggests potential consolidation of elementary schools to leave the options more open ended due in part to year over year enrolment changes.

“In looking at Strathcona County as a whole and what a value scoping session would entail, we can’t say for sure (consolidating two Kindergarten to Grade 4 schools) is what would come out of the value scoping,” she told the Board. “We didn’t feel comfortable, so we’re asking for pre-planning funds to do some public engagement to see what we can come up with for a solution to increase the utilization rate.”

EICS Superintendent Paul Corrigan told the Board that capital planning involves aiming for goal posts that can shift from year to year. “This is primarily because of the good work being done in our schools and the new programs being offered,” he said. 

A similar request in 2024 was not funded, but EICS administration is committed to securing the necessary resources. If funding is received, public engagement sessions are not planned to begin prior to 2026.

Priority 3: Right-Sizing Study for Vegreville Schools

The third priority requests pre-planning funds to explore a Kindergarten to Grade 12 consolidation at either St. Mary’s Catholic School or St. Martin’s Catholic School.

This would involve a value scoping study and public engagement to assess a cost/benefit analysis of the long-term maintenance cost of keeping underutilized schools running versus the cost of consolidating and modernizing either school. Pending the results of the value scoping workshop and public engagement, EICS will develop a more detailed scope of work and cost estimate.

The 3-Year Capital Plan is requesting funds to hold value scoping and public engagement sessions as well as planning and design funding to help develop one of two options:

• Option 1: $10.8 million in funding to consolidate both schools into St. Mary’s.
• Option 2: $14.2 million to consolidate both schools into St. Martin’s.

Similar to other projects, no timelines have been set as the initiative depends on provincial funding.

Long-Term Planning & Future Growth

The Board also reviewed as part of this document a long-range 10-year facility plan for 2025-2034, which guides EICS in providing high-quality learning spaces close to home.

New residential developments in Cambrian and Bremner near Sherwood Park have been identified as potential sites for future Catholic schools, while other communities may see shifting enrolment trends based on local growth. 

Ongoing Advocacy for Funding

While EICS was not included in the province’s 2025 capital funding announcements, Leigh noted that funding could still be granted at other points in the year.

“The most important thing is showing that the division has a solid plan moving forward,” she said. “We have a direction, and we know what we’re asking for.”

The full 3-Year Capital Plan and 10-Year Facility Plan can be viewed on our website.