Local MLA assured new school announced in 2023 still on track
When the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development announced six major infrastructure projects on Wednesday, Dec. 3, one of them was a new francophone school for Woodstock, but it made no mention of a new school for Florenceville-Bristol, first announced by the Blaine Higgs government in June of 2023.
The new school is set to replace Bath Community School, Bristol Elementary, Florenceville Elementary, and Florenceville Middle schools, and was initially scheduled to open in 2026.
Since then, a school site has not been chosen, and the project still has no start date.
Careton-Victoria MLA Margaret Johnson says the lack of information and movement on the file is “political theatre,” but said she has confirmed the project is still a go.
“I have been assured by the Minister of DTI (Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Chuck Chaisson) and officials in the Department of Education that the Carleton North Project has not been shuttered,” she told the River Valley Sun in an email. “Final agreements are being made, and there should be a fulsome announcement in the spring.”
Just before the 2024 provincial election, Johnson and MLAs Bill Hogan and Richard Ames held a news conference at the ‘preferred site’ of the new school, along Route 130 in Florenceville-Bristol. DTI has not yet confirmed that site.
On Wednesday, when Education Minister Claire Johnson released the details of a new French-language school for the Woodstock area, the plans took many by surprise, including two local MLAs.
“I would question the necessity,” said Johnson. “In my opinion, we should be doing less to divide our two linguistic populations and place more focus on assuring that all children are learning French and are proficient in both official languages.”
Former Education Minister and Woodstock-Hartland MLA Bill Hogan also questioned the infrastructure announcement.
“I’m not sure that we have a sufficient francophone population to support a new school,” he said. “I’d love to know the stats.”
According to the 2021 Census statistics, the proportion of the population who can conduct a conversation in French in the Woodstock region was between 10 and 30 per cent. In the 2016 Canada Census, the area was listed as having fewer than 5 per cent of residents who could speak French.
In a news release, the department says the francophone school was “added based on census data to ensure minority language education rights are protected and promoted, as required under Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
The minister said funding a francophone school in Carleton County is a priority.
“It’s fundamental to New Brunswick that students from both linguistic communities can access the education they need in the official language they speak.,” said Johnson. “We will continue to provide that, and to perform ongoing evaluations to ensure that these charter needs are met everywhere in the province.”
Federal funding for French-language education is available through Heritage Canada under the Intergovernmental Cooperation on Minority Language Education agreement. The province didn’t announce Woodstock’s specific cost, the funding it will seek from the federal government, or the school’s location in its announcement.
In addition to individual school projects, the funds will also pay for modular programs, new equipment, improvements and repairs, and the dust collector program to ensure schools are safe and dependable for staff and students.
On the provincial education infrastructure priority list, a mid-life upgrade for Woodstock High School is now ranked 10th out of 15.
The projects on that list are identified through the department’s annual capital planning and evaluation process. The list allows district education councils to determine which improvement projects will be required for their schools in the next five years.
Unless there is a significant change in scope or an emergency, each project on the list will remain on the list until it is funded.
