The Pulse
April 19, 2022

Past decisions by the city and current decisions by the province are making it difficult for the school system to live up to the City Plan's vision of 15-minute districts, suggests the chair of the Edmonton Public School Board.

The City Plan envisions a "community of communities" with "housing, recreation, schools and employment in all of our districts" that are accessible through all forms of transportation. But the school board has not been able to put schools in all the new neighbourhoods that have sprung up in the sprawl that previous councils have approved.

"We want to build schools where the kids are, we want to build schools so that kids can walk to school, so kids can ride their bike to school, so kids don't have to be on a bus for an hour both ways," Trisha Estabrooks told Episode 174 of Speaking Municipally. "When the city is building these neighbourhoods that are way on the outskirts of the city, that does cause problems."

Meanwhile, schools in mature neighbourhoods are often underutilized because there are fewer families with school-aged children living there. "And it's because their houses aren't affordable," Estabrooks told Taproot's civic affairs podcast. "The type of infill that we're building has to change, right? We want to invest in our mature communities. I want to invest in our mature community schools."

The province has made decisions that make it harder both to serve fast-growing communities at the edge of the city and to attract families to mature neighbourhoods closer to the centre of the city. The Alberta government has not funded a new school in Edmonton Public for two years in a row, even though the school division is growing by about 3,000 students per year.

"That means that kids are on the bus longer. That means that our class sizes are getting bigger," Estabrooks said, adding that students in the catchment area of Lillian Osborne High School have to win a lottery to go to their neighbourhood school.

The province also refused to fund a replacement school for Delton School, even though it has been at or near the top of the school board's capital funding request for years. Delton was built in 1946, and it doesn't have proper wheelchair access, among other things. "Delton's a great little community school, but it needs a lot of work," said Estabrooks, whose Ward D includes Delton. "It deserved to be on that capital plan list. Unfortunately, the ministry felt that that request shouldn't be funded."

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange's department explained the decision by noting Delton's enrolment is only 69%. "If EPSB was truly concerned about building for growth, they needed to prioritize new schools in growing areas at the top of their amalgamated list," spokesperson Katherine Stavropoulos told Global News.

And that is indeed what the school board has done, Estabrooks said, noting that its capital wish list is now topped by a request for a new school in Glenridding Heights, a neighbourhood south of Ellerslie Road in UCP minister Kaycee Madu's riding of Edmonton South West.

• Karanveer Sahota, a 16-year-old Edmonton boy, passed away in hospital on April 15 after being attacked by several other youths outside McNally High School on April 8. Police told CBC News a number of youth suspects have been identified. A GoFundMe page set up for the boy's family has already raised more than $170,000.
• Edmonton was the departure site for about 80 Canadian soldiers who flew to Poland on Friday for a rescue mission to help Ukrainian refugees. Along with 20 soldiers who departed from Trenton, Ontario, they will provide two months of support to the Polish Territorial Defence Force. The mission hits home for many of the soldiers, some of whom have Ukrainian heritage, said Lt. Kevin Moffat, a public affairs officer with the Canadian Armed Forces. Meanwhile, members of Edmonton's Ukrainian community are hopeful the mission could lead to bigger support efforts.
• Former mayor Don Iveson spoke about his time in office in a recent video with Richard Florida as part of the Climate + Justice + Cities speaker series. Iveson, who was named a Canadian Urban Leader at the University of Toronto's School of Cities earlier this year, also shared his thoughts on energy transition and the role of cities.
• Pride Corner on Whyte — which aims to reclaim the space on the corner of 104 Street and Whyte Avenue — is the work of a group of queer counter-protestors pushing back against homophobic and transphobic street preachers at the busy intersection, reports Xtra Magazine in a feature piece about the issue. The team, led by organizer Claire Pearen, shows up every Friday to protest the street preachers. She said police told her nothing could be done. Pearan also spoke last month with fellow counter-protestor Douglas Parsons on his Tales of the 2SLGBTQ+ podcast about her activism.
• Three Edmontonians were short-listed for Canadian Immigrant magazine's 14th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. Included on the list are Jose Fernando Triana, founder of the Spanish-language magazine and TV network Soy Hispano; Tracy Folorunsho-Barry, founder of the Gradual Rising of Women (GROW) Foundation; and Basel Abou Hamrah with the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, who helped co-found a group to help LGBTQ+ newcomers at the Pride Centre of Edmonton.
• Theatre Network, which owns and operates the Roxy Theatre. invited the public to tour its new $12-million facility over the long weekend. While aiming to preserve the essence of the old Roxy, which burned down in 2015, the new building features two theatres, an extra rehearsal hall, and a rooftop deck, among other improvements.
• Pope Francis will likely make stops in Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit this summer to meet with residential school survivors, CBC News reports. Francis first announced the trip at his recent meeting with Indigenous delegates wherein he apologized for "the deplorable conduct" of some members of the Roman Catholic Church.

City council meets on April 19, with a continuation on April 20. There is also a public hearing on April 20. Here are some of the key items on the agenda this week.

• Council will review recommendations from the community and public services committee for the problem property initiative, which aims to address properties that create chronic issues in the communities they're in. The first recommendation is that the fire rescue services branch operating budget be increased by up to $850,000 from Edmonton police funds that are currently being held, to extend the community property safety team pilot for 18 months. The committee would also like to see the operating budget for the community standards and neighbourhoods branch increased by $915,000 from the same funds to improve dedicated resources for problem properties.
• Urban planning committee is recommending that council give administration the green light to begin preparing district plans and a district general policy in alignment with its move toward ensuring Edmontonians can meet their needs within a 15-minute walk, bicycle ride, or transit trip from home.
• Following a motion by Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, the community and public services committee recommended to council that it direct administration to work with stakeholders to develop recommendations to reduce drug poisoning injuries and deaths in the city, as well as to decriminalize "simple personal possession, safe supply, safe consumption sites, treatment, and supportive housing."

This week's calendar includes sessions with elected representatives on budgeting and transportation; opportunities to learn about public art, ageism, sustainability, and historical artifacts; and an invitation to celebrate Earth Day with a cleanup:

• April 19, 5:30pm: Info Session: Participatory Budgeting for Ward Karhiio & Ward Nakota Isga, hosted by councillors Keren Tang and Andrew Knack
• April 19, 7pm: Serendipity: Discovering Public Art in Your Public Library
• April 20, 5pm: Ageism in Alberta: The Need for Community Initiatives from the Centre for Race and Culture
• April 21, 5pm: Ruthlessly Sustainable: Make Your Everyday Greener from Ruth
• April 21, 7pm: Transportation Forum for public school board wards F, G, and H
• April 22, 2pm: Corporate Clean Up Challenge from Explore Edmonton
• April 22, 12pm: Collecting a Pandemic: Why, How, and What from the Royal Alberta Museum

Find even more listings in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: Wheatfield With Crows, a piece of public art by Konstantin Dimopoulos installed near the Edmonton Public Library in The Meadows. (Mack Male)