LANIGAN — As the deadline moves closer on the new K-12 school in Lanigan, the Horizon School Division met with the Town of Lanigan, shared two new design drawings of the facility and current funding challenges.
The school, which will consolidate both the existing elementary and high school, is slated to open for September 2023.
Kevin Garinger, Horizon’s director of education, said the meeting allowed the opportunity to talk about where things are at, where the concerns are, and how the two parties might continue to work together to help alleviate some of the issues.
“They’re already doing a road allowance, and building it up for buses to run on,” Garinger said. “The school is owned by the school division, but it’s in the town, it’s in support of all the students from the town and area.”
The province announced $21 million in funding for the project in 2020.
Garinger said the biggest issue is that they were funded for about $3,115 a square metre. When the cost analysis was first completed the funding covered the work. A current cost analysis shows the Division’s allocated funding is short upwards of $300,000 for the project.
If everything flows in terms of funding as the Horizon School Division anticipates, Garinger said they expect the build to still be completed on time.
“The board has put forward a motion to say that they’ll support up to $2 million from their unrestricted surplus, which they don’t have that much of an unrestricted surplus, but they want to see the school get built,” he said. “We’re still a little short, even at that, so we'll wait and see what happens during budget time because that’s coming up.”
