Parents call for new, bigger school in Harbour Landing

Overcrowding issues at Harbour Landing Elementary School have parents calling for a new school to be built in that Regina neighbourhood. 

The school opened in 2017 and was built to serve 650 students. This year, it was estimated that at least 900 students are using the facility. By 2027, the school is projected to serve over 1,500 students.

"We need another school, more than anything. That is the long-term solution for this problem," Lori Ekdahl, treasurer of the Harbour Landing School Community Council, said. 

"Not only do we have too many kids in this school, the growth isn't slowing down. More kids are being added to school every day."

Ekdahl said she has two children who attend the school and was part of a meeting hosted at Harbour Landing School on Monday night. 

She said the mood was emotional and tense, as frustrated parents asked the school division questions about their children's future. 

Regina Public Schools is proposing to move roughly 180 French immersion students to another school next fall as a temporary overcrowding reduction measure. 

Ekdahl said there's a lot of disbelief in the community that moving the French immersion programming will solve the problem. 

"I personally believe that the draw to the school, is the school itself," Ekdahl said. "The location, it being a neighbourhood school, it being a new school and the fact that there's a French immersion program, I think is just a bonus."

Ekdahl said for some students in French immersion programming a move to A. E. Perry School would mark the third time they've been moved, something she said disrupts their routine and is detrimental to their education. 

New school top priority for division

Regina Public Schools director of education Greg Enion said building a new school in Harbour Landing is the division's top priority and he hopes to see money in the next provincial budget to make it a reality. 

"If a new school is approved it usually takes about three years, the planning and construction of the school, until students and staff can move in," Enion said.

He said the division is "trying to manoeuvre through times of growth" and is 100 per cent dependant on the province in terms of obtaining funding for new schools. 

Some classes at Harbour Landing are currently doubled, meaning there's up to 52 students in some classes. Enion said in those situations, two teachers monitor the class.

"That's not our long-term plan for the school but it's a temporary measure to get us through this school year," Enion said. 

Enion said a final decision on the future of the French immersion program at Harbour Landing will be made in January.