A new elementary school in Halifax’s north end is just two weeks away from opening after a five and a half year wait but according to a local MLA, the announcement is bittersweet.
The NDP’s Suzy Hansen tells Acadia News she is extremely excited for St. Joseph’s-Alexander McKay Elementary School (SJAM) to open its doors but also frustrated because there was no communication.
“There was no indication this was about to happen at this time of year,” says Hansen. “There’s always rumors running around but it would have been nice to prepare folks and community on the changes that are about to happen.”
The new school, that has capacity for 515 Pre-Primary to Grade 6 students was originally expected to be completed in the winter of 2024, after it was torn down just two years prior.
However, due to what the education department refers to as “unexpected complications”, that kept being pushed back.
Now it is scheduled to open its doors to students Wednesday, February 18, but according to Hansen, that was a big surprise.
“I check on [the school] as much as I can and up to this point there was no indication they were even close to being done,” says Hansen.
In a news release, the province says major construction work was completed Monday but were not clear what it was.
Hansen says she is as equally in the dark and is unsure if work will still be underway in two weeks.
“It’s going to be an interesting thing to see on the first day of school when I dop my kids off,” says Hansen.
She is also concerned about an opening date in February and suggested the school open in warmer months.
“The expectation for them to transition two months before school finishes is really disturbing,” says Hansen. “Their whole lives are going to be turned around at least for a little while, until they adjust to the new classroom, the new way at school.”
Hansen says she has reached out to the province for more information and is looking for an impact statement to avoid a situation like this in the future.
