Land, plan and money in place to get Kenmount Terrace school done on time, parents told

Government ministers told a crowded meeting Tuesday night — despite clear skepticism in the room — that the new school planned for Kenmount Terrace in St. John's will open for class in just over two years. 

Sarah Stoodley, the Service N.L. minister who represents the Mount Scio district, brought along Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell and Infrastructure Minister John Abbott to help answer questions from parents and others about how an "aggressive" timeline will be met — and what the impact will be on other schools. 

"We have the land, we have the plan, we have the money," Abbott told the meeting. "The school will be built, and will be built on time." 

Expropriation of land for the school was completed just this month, and the community was told that a design-build contract should be awarded by January. Eighteen months are being set aside for construction, with the as-yet unnamed school set to open in September 2026. 

The K-7 school will have a capacity for 850 students, not including pre-kindergarten registration. The school will also have an early French immersion stream. 

"Kids will be able to attend there from when they're four to 12," Stoodley said. 

The proposed timeline raised eyebrows in the crowd. 

A man who said he worked in construction for more than 20 years and on "a lot of major projects" challenged the ministers. 

"The way these tenders haven't been submitted yet, the ground is not even broke, not even started at it … it's impossible. Your schedule is impossible," said the man, who did not identify himself.  

Stoodley said the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure maintains the schedule is indeed possible. 

The new school is meant to provide a long-awaited neighbourhood school in Kenmount Terrace, a fast-growing subdivision in northern St. John's near the neighbouring town of Paradise. It is also meant to relieve overcrowding in existing schools.

Due to overcrowding, many of the catchment and other schools — including Leary's Brook Junior High, Prince of Wales Collegiate, St. Andrew's Elementary and Larkhall Academy — had their grade levels reconfigured in April in an attempt to balance populations. 

Previously, St. Andrews and Larkhall served grades K-5, Leary's Brook grades 6-9 and Prince of Wales 10-12. The elementary schools will now teach K-4, Leary's Brook will take 5-8, and Prince of Wales will take 9-12. 

Some speakers pointed out a lack of solutions in the short term, and questions about overcrowding and aging infrastructure went largely unanswered.

Darrell Hynes, chair of the Leary's Brook Junior High school council, initially told CBC News that as of their last school council meeting, the school had 410 students, and by the minister's reconfiguration, that number would grow to 460 in September. Hynes later clarified to CBC News that the school actually had 510 students and would grow to 560.

"Under the government's plan our situation has gotten a lot worse."

Gordon Stokes, chair of the PWC school council, said the extra grade at the school means the loss of its learning resource centre and rooms used to help struggling students with their grades. 

"When you bring in the Grade 9s and the logistics side that comes with it, PWC will be at max capacity," he said.

Howell said conversations are continuing about how to manage crowded classrooms. Howell said the government has "an idea" of how many students there will be in the fall, and resources will be planned accordingly.

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