The future of the new high school in Camrose, Alta., is still up in the air.
The Blessed Carlo Acutis High School is set to open this fall, welcoming more than 400 students from grades 9 to 12.
However, that is on pause. The province has yet to hand over possession of the school to the Elk Island Catholic School board because of the impasse between the City of Camrose and area developer, Camgill Development Corporation.
Although the school in the city southeast of Edmonton was completed early, there are no paved roads or utilities to the school located on the southwest edge of the city.
Until those are in place, the province said it can’t secure an occupancy permit and hand the school over to Elk Island Catholic Schools.
Who, exactly, is supposed to pay for and build or install those things seems to be the point of contention.
The City of Camrose and the subdivision developer have not been able to agree on who is responsible for providing road and site servicing access.
The school was the topic of a special council meeting in Camrose Wednesday morning.
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Mayor PJ Stasko said the city has submitted another proposal to the school board and the province to facilitate the opening.
“We’re still working with it so I can’t speak to the details of it, but we’re trying to come up with a solution that all parties are happy with,” he said after the meeting, explaining there are ongoing legal proceedings.
The new high school in Camrose — and the lack of roads or some utilities to it — has caught the attention of provincial officials, who insist it isn’t their problem.
On Tuesday afternoon during question period at the legislature, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver pushed back, saying this is a City of Camrose issue.
“They need to do what they committed to do,” he said.
He doubled down on that statement Wednesday.
“We’re demanding that Camrose meet the commitment that they and only they made, to have the road to the school and have utilities there. As far as I’m concerned they need to fulfill the commitment that they made,” McIver said at the legislature.
Mayor Stasko did not shed much light Wednesday on what the new proposal is about.
“Unfortunately some of the things we need to keep in confidence just with some of things ongoing but we’ve tried to come up with a solution for quite a while and we’re still ongoing with that,” Stasko said.
“Hopefully we come to a solution and then we can communicate all the details possible, and that’s our goal.”
He added that the city is required to provide a serviced site but it does not own the road in front of the school.
“We are required to provide a serviced site and (the school) is serviced to the street,” Stasko said.
Global News reached out to Camgill Development Corporation for an interview both last week and on Wednesday, but no one was made available.
The Elk Island Catholic School Division plans for the school to be open this upcoming September. It was identified as the number one priority in the division’s three-year capital plan back in 2021.
Right now, high school students within the Catholic division attend the grade 5-12 Our Lady of Mount Pleasant Catholic School.
The city of around 20,000 people has another standalone senior high — École Camrose Composite High School, which is part of the Battle River School Division — but parents say more space and options are needed.
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