Rebuild Lakeview area schools instead of 'cramming them into 1 lot' with merger: Regina community council

A planto combinetwo schools in Regina's Lakeview areaisn't sitting well with some parents.

In its last budget, the province announced it was setting aside $3.3 milliontowardplanning major consolidationprojects forexisting schools and building new facilities.

Included on thelist of projectsis a plan to developa joint-use school for cole St. Pius X and Argyle Elementary School. It comes afterSt. Pius parents called for a new building due to deteriorating conditions at the current one.

But the current plan has created a whole new set of concerns,according toColleen Silverthorn, spokesperson for the St. PiusX Catholic School Community Council (CSCC).

"We're looking at two small neighborhood schools that have a great feel to them and we're cramming them into one lot with a thousand students in them," she told CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition.

• Regina school boards proposing new joint-use facilities to replace aging schools

"I'm looking at this thinking, who would want their young kids five, six, seven year olds going to this massive school that's going to warehouse 1,000 students but on a small site that was never intended for that?"

Instead, Silverthorn said she wants both schools to be rebuilt.

The Ministry of Educationdid confirm in an email to CBC the school would accommodate 400 students on both the Catholic and public sections of the school, with room for an additional 100 students on each side.

As well, Silverthornsaid a southern portion of Kinsmen Park, which is near both schools, might be converted to a parking lot to accommodate extra staff at the joint-use school.

"The end of that park will become a parking lotand as somebody who lives in the neighborhood, to me, I just find that doesn't sit well," she said.

"For the people that do live close to that neighborhood, it's already a very, very congested area with traffic and from school pickup and drop off."

'Premature to provide further specifics': ministry

Contacted for comment, the City of Regina directed CBC to the province for questions about the school and parking lot.

The ministry wouldn't confirmdetails on the project or a parking lot.

"The Ministry of Education, Regina Public Schools, Regina Catholic School Division and the City of Regina are working together to find sufficient space for this project, including parking," said the emailed statement.

"It would be premature to provide further specifics at this point."

Silverthorn said there are also concerns from Catholic community members, since the Argyle school site does not have a church on the grounds.

"I do recognize the importance for the people that are part of that community. They feel strongly about having the church next to the school."

Silverthorn said the community council had a meeting with the minister of education last week where they discussed their concerns. Shesaid a petition has also been startedagainst amalgamating both schools.