Province to build 16 new schools under P-3 model

The Nova Scotia government plans to build another 16 schools under public-private partnership agreements.

That will bring the total number of P-3 schools in the province to 55.

Education minister Wayne Gaudet made his announcement this morning at the Elmsdale elementary school near Halifax. It's one of several schools that's on the fast-track list for replacement by 2001. That's because it sits on the site of a furnace oil spill, a site that has since been cleaned up.

Gaudet says P-3 construction has been controversial, but that public support is growing for the model because the schools are needed so badly.

He says Nova Scotians realize that "there is no other way for government to provide these much-needed schools to communities." In the past year, parents' groups have asked the province to find another way to build schools. They say the large P-3 schools are being built too far from the communities they serve. NDP education critic Eileen O'Connell says the Liberal government hasn't bothered to find alternatives. O'Connell accuses the Liberals of "blatant electioneering." The Liberals say this morning's announcement is not a bid for votes, and have promised to build the new schools within the next four years.

Some of the communities and regions which will see the new facilities include Elmsdale, Clare, Argyle, Sydney, Pictou, Amherst and Shelburne.