New St. John's school likely to miss 2026 opening target, leaving parents frustrated

Newfoundland and Labrador government officials were all smiles during a news conference on Tuesday, announcing the beginning of construction on a new school in the Kenmount Terrace neighbourhood in St. John's.

"It's a good day, it's a good announcement and hopefully that will be what will be reported tonight on the news," Infrastructure Minister Elvis Loveless said with a laugh.

But parents in the area say it's anything but. They're frustrated with the provincial government over a commitment to open the school for 2026-27, which now doesn't seem likely. 

Rita Stright, a parent of two children who attend Leary's Brook Junior High, told reporters that school, and nearby Larkhall Academy, are severely overcrowded.

"The infrastructure is deteriorating, there is absolutely no space for growth," Stright said, adding student enrolment is expected to be around 600 next year.

Stright and other parents were present during Tuesday's government announcement. The province announced that a $41.9 million contract has been awarded to Olympic Construction Limited to build the new facility.

The 11,800-square-metre school will house 43 classrooms for students from pre-Kindergarten to Grade 7, and it's expected to hold around 860 students.

The school was first announced in September 2023 by former premier Andrew Furey. Furey committed at the time to having the school operational by September 2026.

But on Tuesday, Education Minister Bernard Davis, Service Delivery Minister Sarah Stoodley and Loveless said meeting that target likely won't happen.

Stoodley pointed to an initial lack of interest from builders as a reason for the delay when the request for proposals was issued in November.

"If that had been awarded on schedule, we could have been open for September," she said. "So unfortunately, we didn't get any bids on the RFP until the spring. So we're still on an 18 month timeline."

Stoodley said the province will work with Olympic Construction and the City of St. John's to expedite the build where possible, adding there are scenarios being explored where some students could move into the school for the 2026 school year.

Davis said the province is committed to having the school opened as soon as possible.

Capacity concerns

Stright said the political smiles don't tell the story that parents are facing.

"The timeline for the new school might not be the story for some people, but it certainly is the story for me, because that's what impacts my children directly," she said.

"The sooner we can have the new school open, the quicker the capacity issue gets addressed."

Jillian Croake, a mother of two students at Larkhall Academy, said she's happy with the announcement of a new school, but wants to see transparency from the government over planning and timelines.

"The math is just not mathing for this new school when we're considering, you know, there's already approximately a thousand students in Leary's Brook Junior High combined with Larkhall Academy," she said.

"There's only so long that we can cram children in classrooms and add additional teaching units … until that begins to suffer."

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