Replacement coming for burnt-out Bay d'Espoir Academy

A "state of the art" replacementis coming for students of Bay d'Espoir Academy, who have been studying in a re-purposed town hall for more than a year.

The provincial government set aside $1 million in Tuesday's budget for planning and design of a brand-new school in the Bay d'Espoir region, intended to be a permanent home for students.

Students from kindergarten to Grade 12 have been studying in the current St. Alban's building since their school was burnt to the ground in a string of arson in January 2017.

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"As I said to them when I met with them about a year ago, they deserve nothing better than a state of the art facility for their children," Education Minister Dale Kirby told reporters in a budget news conference Tuesday.

Parents in the Bay d'Espoir region have been growing frustrated with the replacement school, which doesn't have accessible washrooms, a cafeteria, a science lab or an art room. Parents also told CBC News that school staff are using a storage closet as a makeshift sensory room for a child with a spectrum disorder.

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"When we look at other schools with the types of programs they're able to offer, there's science labs, trade programs, a cafeteria. I mean, right now, we're lacking all of those," said Gail Hoskins, a member of the school council with two sons attending the school.

"This is the reason why we kept pushing and pushing as much as possible to ensure that the new school is going to happen for us."

'We would like to have it built yesterday'

Hoskins said the school council felt students needed a new space, even before the former Bay d'Espoir Academy building burned down.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Works said a tender to start construction on the new school will be issued in 2019, and money for construction is set aside until 2022.

Hoskins, who's also the mayor of St. Alban's, said she's aware many in her community want to see the school open sooner than that.

"We would like to have it built yesterday. Of course, we understand there's a process, and we're willing as a school council to ensure we work with the school board and the department of education to ensure that this is done as fast as possible."

A new school should be able to provide the programming that children are lacking this year, Hoskins said, and help the community come together.

"I think these kids are going to be able to put the past in the past, and all the tragic things that have happened over the last couple of years, and it's going to be a fabulous, fabulous facility for all the kids in Bay d'Espoir."