Pre-planning funding has been approved for a new school for Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement, which is the only Metis community in Alberta without an on-site school.
On March 20, the Northern Lights Public School division (NLPS) board of trustees announced that it had been approved for pre-planning funds.
The majority of Kindergarten to Grade 8 students are bused 23 kilometres outside of the settlement to attend Caslan School.
“We are excited to work with Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement on moving forward with this project and taking the next steps toward providing students with the opportunity to pursue their education in their community,” said NLPS Board Chair Karen Packard.
The pre-planning funding provided by the provincial government will be used for community consultation and to determine the project scope.
A site for the new school has already been identified that will co-locate it with other community services, and provide opportunities for community involvement, extracurricular activities and expanded programming outside of school hours.
The Board and Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement Council have been advocating for a new school to be built on the settlement for close to a decade.
“Buffalo Lake Council has done an amazing job of advocating for this project and doing everything they possibly could to prepare for this project,” said Packard.
“We are grateful for their leadership and partnership and look forward to celebrating with them as we move this project forward towards construction.”
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