Potential school in Saint John’s Central Peninsula pushed to 2026

Residents in one of Saint John’s priority neighbourhoods will have to wait another year to see if the province will commit to the construction of a new school.

Construction of a new Central Peninsula school was not included in Tuesday’s release of the 2023-2024 capital budget, which announced “$64.2 million to continue the planning, design, and construction of eight new schools around the province.”

Discussions of a new K-8 school merging King Charles and St. John the Baptist/King Edward schools have been ongoing since 2017.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, $1.5 million is set aside for “the continued planning and design of the new kindergarten to Grade 8 school for Saint John Central Peninsula.”

“The school is projected to open in the fall of 2026 but this could be subject to change as we move through the site selection, land acquisition and design processes,” said Morgan Bell.

However, a lack of concrete plans provides little relief for those living in the community.

Pulse Inc. (People United in the Lower South End) is a neighbourhood action group that supports community policing initiatives and quality of life issues that impact the neighbourhood.

“Well, I’ve seen designs of the school before, so I hope this design is more out of the draft and into the final,” said Lisa Morris, the resident engagement co-ordinator at Pulse.

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Read more: Advocate for new Saint John school laments lengthy process

Morris said the Central Peninsula being a priority neighbourhood means there are high poverty rates, as well as other socioeconomic challenges.

“The new school is more than just a school, it’s a community hub,” Morris said, adding that the location would provide space for support services.

In an interview with Global News on Wednesday, Saint John city councillor David Hickey said the fact funding hasn’t been allocated for construction was “disappointing.”

Hickey said when the province allocated $2.2 million last year to purchase land for the new school, the understanding was the design phase would also be carried out.

“From a perspective of impacting cohorts of kids in school, when we first talked about it, when we first talked about this project, those kids are now in Grade 5,” he said.

When asked whether he felt other cities would have experienced an expedited process, Hickey said the fact the Central Peninsula Community School would serve as a community hub makes it more complicated.

“But with that said, it shouldn’t take this long. Moncton’s been prioritized over us, Fredericton’s been prioritized over us. There’s schools across the province that are consistently getting priority over the single biggest catalytic project for the City of Saint John.”

While a long-awaited school in the Central Peninsula will have to wait another year, the province did announce that a replacement for Hazen White-St. Francis and Centennial schools in Saint John would be built.