Key takeaways:
- ‘It’s only been so long in the making,’ states the mayor.
- Citizens of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s exhilarated by the possibility of a new high school being made in the community.
Citizens of Portugal Cove-St. Philip decides the community has missed one essential service — a high school they can send their kids to rather than busing them to nearby St. John’s.
Andrew Smith raised his family in the seaside town of approximately 8,400 people for the previous seven years but had been feeling of moving.
But Smith advised CBC News on Monday the regional government’s plans to create a new school in the town — declared in the prior week’s budget — means he won’t have to uproot his young family.
“We were concerned, rather to the point where we thought maybe we’d migrate when the children get to be at the high school age,” Smith stated.
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“If you want young families to go and stay in these neighborhoods, then having good schools to send your children to will help keep people wanting to stay rather than looking for options elsewhere.”
Right now, Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s has an elementary school and a junior high academy. On Thursday, Finance Minister Siobhan Coady stated that enrollment across the region is projected to grow for the first time in 50 years.
Smith stated it has always been his family’s intent to stay in the district till his three kids — who are 10, eight, and three — move on to post-secondary. But other parents told him it would be around a 50-to-60-minute bus ride for his children to attend Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John’s.
“It’s not an easy problem, but we are pleased to be on the docket for a new high school for sure,” he stated.
Source – cbc.ca
