Stratford and Souris have waited long enough, Premier Robert Ghiz said in announcing that the P.E.I. cabinet has approved two new schools.
'Quite frankly they were impatient with government and the Eastern School District.'вЂ" Premier Robert Ghiz
On Tuesday the cabinet approved a proposal by the Eastern School District to build the schools and put an addition on a third. School trustees voted in favour of the projects last Wednesday.
Work on all three projects, expected to total about $30 million, is expected to begin immediately.
The Souris area will take the largest share of that budget, $20 million, for a single school that will include students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Stratford will get a new elementary school on the same site as Glen Stewart, to ease overcrowding there.
The classrooms at Glen Stewart School are crowded. (CBC) Some trustees voted against the new schools, saying a more comprehensive zoning study was needed, but Ghiz said due diligence has been done.
"The Parents for Learning in Souris have been working on this for the last number of years. Quite frankly they were impatient with government and the Eastern School District for taking too long," he said.
"We know in Stratford they've got over 600 students there, there's major problems out in that area and it's been going on for quite a number of years. And I've heard a lot of complaints about the Eastern School District and about the provincial government that we're too slow."
In addition to the two schools, cabinet approved an addition to Westwood Primary School in Cornwall to accommodate another 160 students.
While timeframes are tight, district officials believe it may be possible to have some of the new schools open in September 2010.
