It hasn't yet been brought to the board of trustees as a formal item on their agendas, but that hasn't stopped the discussions regarding the future challenges for schools in the northwest part of the city.
With significant growth already happening and more residential development expected in the northwest sector of Estevan, Sacred Heart/Sacre Coeur School served by the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division and Pleasantdale School, a facility under the care of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, are already feeling the enrolment pinch, or are about to feel it.
Keith Thompson, assistant director for Holy Family, recently paid a visit to Estevan's city council chambers to discuss the matter and set the stage to open a clear line of communication between property developers, City Hall and the school division so that none of the vested interests will be caught off guard in the near future.
With Sacred Heart being a dual stream school, the prospects for unprecedented growth are very real, Thompson told The Mercury during a May 31 interview.
"French immersion is growing and that program is a big part of that school," said Thompson, noting that FI students probably now encompass the majority of the 280 students currently enrolled in that school.
"There is a growing immigrant factor. Some of our new citizens have French as their first language or as a common language for them. Since Sacred Heart has the only French immersion program for elementary schools in the immediate area, they enroll there," Thompson said.
Sacred Heart just recently added another portable classroom to house an increasing student body. Until it was ready to open, the overflow of youngsters was housed in a curtained-off area in one section of the school's library.
"We have had no problem in hiring teaching staff for the French programs," Thompson added, so that element of the programming is well served so far.
There have been no discussions about the possibility of building another school strictly for French immersion, or for an increasing English language student body. That, he suggested, might be a question for the French language community as well as Holy Family and its partners such as South East Cornerstone since Cornerstone sends their French immersion students to Sacred Heart at the elementary level and then provide the immersion option at the Estevan Comprehensive School for Grades 9 through 12.
"I don't know if we could add another portable to Sacred Heart, it's pretty well reached its capacity as far as that option goes. It's quickly coming to a point where adding portables won't be possible without affecting other elements to the school grounds. And you know, the growth here is not unique, it's happening throughout the province, so it's something the entire province will have to be looking at within a four or five year period. It's significant.
"In the meantime, when we hear that the new subdivision in that area of the city could be adding 3,000 more residential units (houses, condos, apartments), we don't want to be caught flat-footed," Thompson said.
They can do a little attendance area shuffling to send a few more students over to St. Mary's the other city's Catholic School, but that option is limited since that school is also nearing capacity thanks to continued growth in all parts of Estevan.
The dilemma may not be as pronounced at Pleasantdale School since they don't have to deal with French immersion growth. With 210 students, it's near capacity although in 2012 they opened the new school year with 224 students, so there is room for some future growth before any drastic measures may have to be taken.
With a total public school student population of 8,155 across the southeast region, an increase of about 35 over the previous record-setting pace, the writing is on the wall for the Energy City and it's future needs in accommodating a growing young student population as well as the ever-increasing adult base.
