School construction delays disappoint Calgary parents

When Kristal Allen bought her home in Aspen Woodsin 2009, part ofthe southwest community'sappeal wasthe promise oftwo newelementary schools:one catholic and one public. Six yearsand onechildlater,construction hasn't begun on either.

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"It'sfrustrating anddisappointing. Frustrating because we don't have a lot of options... and disappointment because we were repeatedly reassured this would be done," said Allen.

She, like many other parents around Calgary, have been anxiously awaiting their community'snew schools,as promised by either the school boards, or previousprovincial governments.

On Monday,Education MinisterDavid Eggengave a sobering update on many of those new builds, saying101 school projectsacross Alberta are facing delays.Seventeen of them are in Calgary.

CBE response

The Chair of the Calgary Board of Education,JoyBowen-Eyresays these delays shouldn't come as a surprise to parents and that theCBE'swebsiteis kept up to date with each of its construction projects.

"We have been very open and transparent about our processes," said Bowen-Eyre.

She blames the setbacks to the sheer volume of projects on the table.

"It goesback to the fact that this is completely unprecedented. The fact that we have never had31 projects to be happening within the Calgary area, just with the Calgary Board of Education alone."

New plans

The newtarget date for both the public and the catholic elementary schools in Aspen Woods is January 2017, but Allen says she can't count on that date, so she's starting to feel overwhelmed.

"To be blunt, a little bit of panic I guess.I mean we are less than a year away from our child starting school and we just don't know what we are going to do, we don't know where she is going to school," said Allen.

Linsay Ingram, who lives in Cranston, is in a similar situation. Her twokids go to Cranston Elementary. Her oldest daughter is in Grade 4 and is supposed to attend the new middle schoolnext fall.

"Everybody is reallydisappointed. We were very excited for our new middle school. I know lots of parents have spent time walking pastthe field where it's being built and watching its progress," said Ingram.

Because the Cranston school is alsonotexpected to be built untilJanuary 2017, the interim plan is to bus her daughter and the other students toa school about 30 minutes awayin the community of Maple Ridge.

Auditor General

Minister Eggen is calling on the Auditor General to into what went wrong.

"We would welcome that," said Bowen-Eyre. "We just want to getthe schools built."

The Catholic School Board did not reply to a request for an interview.