New entryways, gym floors, targets for school projects

A handful of schools in the Lakeland are getting a facelift.

Thanks to provincial government grants, Lakeland Catholic School District received $2.5 million and Northern Lights Public Schools got $1 million for improvements in late May.

Dr. Brosseau School is currently one of the schools that will look a little different soon.

A new entryway is being built to allow for more space and foot traffic through Dr. B’s front doors.

“The previous entryway to the school, it really boxed the students in and anyone else who was entering the building. So we are working on creating a more functional entryway,” said communications

“It will be very similar to the entryway that was done over at St. Dominic Elementary.”

LCSD put the grant money to use by retrofitting division buildings, switching to LED lights, and resurfacing the gym floor at Assumption Jr./Sr. High School.

A VOIP phone system will also soon be installed for all division schools, said Wildman.

“We were able to do various improvements across the division using that money. And it also was quite positive because it provided jobs for people during COVID when many people were out of work, so we were able to provide some jobs locally.”

Like provincial dollars granted to Lakeland municipalities this summer, there were some stipulations on which projects would be selected.

Each school division was asked to submit projects that were ready to go and could be done within a six-month time frame.

NLPS chose to do exterior upgrades at Ardmore School, finished earlier this year, and at Bonnyville Outreach School.

As with Dr. Brosseau, Cold Lake Middle School will also see a new entryway through their doors.

In an emailed statement, NLPS said there is a slight delay on that project, but should still be finished this fall.

Other local school divisions received grant money. St. Paul School Division and East Central Francophone Education Region had a million and $1.3 million, respectively, to designate for projects.

Buffalo Trail Public Schools received $2,500,000.