St. Albert city council is considering backing out of a school site allocation agreement that former superintendents say worked well to resolve land disputes between school districts in the past.
On Monday, Mayor Cathy Heron will present a motion to council to withdraw from the city's school site allocation agreement. The agenda for Monday's council meeting includes the wording of the motion but no other information.
The school site agreement outlines how the superintendents of the Greater St. Albert Catholic, St. Albert Public, and Greater North Central Francophone school boards are to collaborate with St. Albert’s city manager to decide which board gets which school site.
Heron submitted an information request to administration March 1 asking for information about the city's potential withdrawal from the agreement. She requested several pieces of information, including the impact of potentially discontinuing the committee, what happens if one party breaches the agreement, and if school sites could be used for municipal purposes if the agreement was nullified. As of Friday, the city's website shows the request as pending.
Heron declined an interview with the Gazette before Monday's council meeting.
Here's how the agreement works now. When a new subdivision is approved in St. Albert, the developer is required to give the city up to 10 per cent of the land as municipal reserve. The city can then designate that as a future school site without promising it to any specific school district.
Administrators from the three school boards then meet with the city to talk about each district's needs through the site allocation committee. After conversation and discussion, the committee eventually decides on which district gets the new school site. If conversations are unsuccessful, then it's up to the city to decide who gets the site.
The agreement allows any of its parties to end the deal on Aug. 31 so long as they formally signal their intent to do so by April 1. They can cancel that any time prior to Aug. 31 without consequence. If the city backs out of the agreement, the deal would be null and void. However, the agreement could still be renegotiated.
Joe Demko, retired St. Albert Public superintendent and school trustee, said the allocation process has worked well in the past. Through the committee, school districts could lay out their needs on the table and come to a decision together. Without the agreement, Demko said he worries school site allocation could become more political in nature if left solely to city council.
"I think the city would have one view of school sites, and school districts may or may not have the same view," Demko said.
He pointed to council debate over the Erin Ridge North school site in 2013. Through the committee, the Protestant school board (now known as St. Albert Public) decided to give up part of the site after hearing how the Francophone board needed a regional high school, now known as École Alexandre-Taché. However, residents upset with the location brought it to city council's attention, which resulted in subsequent motions to address concerns.
"I never understood why it became so political at the city council level, because the agreement as to what happens with the land was made in a discussion with the districts involved," he said. "I'm not sure that it serves the best interest of either the city or the school districts when decisions like that are being made on a political basis, rather than on a more rational basis of identifying students' needs."
In 2014, both the Catholic and Public school boards were given schools from the province, but both wanted the school site in Jensen Lakes. That led to heated discussions where both boards threatened to back out of the school site allocation agreement. However, a solution was eventually worked out between the administrators and the site was split 70/30, with St. Albert Public getting the larger portion.
Though discussions were tense at times, the decision never went to mediation, explained Barry Wowk, retired superintendent of St. Albert Public.
"There were certainly rocky periods. I mean, I for one didn't think Jensen Lakes was big enough for two schools, I thought it would result in real congestion. However, it was the best of the choices that were available," Wowk said.
According to the Municipal Government Act, municipalities must establish a process with school boards for the planning, development and use of school sites. However, establishing a school site allocation committee is not required. Other cities have made it work without a committee, but if St. Albert's is removed, co-operation would be lost, Wowk said.
"I think you'd lose some teamwork on it ... the conversations have to continue one way or the other. It depends on the city, whether they want to have three different conversations or one."
Demko said he believes council should ensure an inclusive process still takes place if the city backs out of the agreement.
"Try hard to have the people who are going to be affected by this decision involved in the decision-making process," he said.
"I get somewhat nervous when I see a private business owner orchestrating where a school might go. And I have some concern when only one body is going to decide where a school should go."
Discussions over the school site allocation agreement follow a recent proposal from a local developer to give a school site to one school district.
Last September, Landrex Development announced subdivision plans for lands north of St. Albert included a high school site for St. Albert Public. On Sept. 21, Heron agreed to sign a joint letter of support with Sturgeon County to the Ministry of Education on the proposal.
