Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Parkdale, McCauley, Eastwood, Fulton Place, and Capilano schools are five schools that are on the chopping block tonight. At the same time, the Edmonton public school board is not getting any new resources to support the six schools that they are opening this September. The government is forcing school boards to shift resources from older schools to new ones. I want to ask the Minister of Education...

Several school boards around Alberta are presently considering closing schools. As Minister of Education, I have been asked by several parties to place a moratorium on school closures, for a variety of reasons. Some people suggest that the processes used to discuss school closures are flawed. Others say that a high-quality educational program requires schools in the communities where children live, whether rural or urban. And others point out that schools should be a...

Ms DeLong: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Education has spoken publicly in this Legislature of the importance of having community services integrated in schools and schools being integrated into the community, yet schools are still being closed in the inner city. The school boards are saying that it's the province that's pressuring them to close. My question is to the Minister of Education. What Alberta Department of Education legislation or...

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Early in May officials from Alberta Education will present to school board chairpersons and school superintendents the province's new provincial school utilization rate. These changes are a very long time in coming, and I would like to thank the hon. Minister of Education for coming forward with these new provincial utilization rates. [some applause] It's certainly about time. Now, my first question is to the Minister...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Waves of potential school closures are washing over communities in Edmonton and Calgary, but this government is looking the other way, claiming that the decisions are for the school boards to make. The truth is that, yes, city core neighbourhoods are losing students to the suburbs, but provincial policies are making the situation worse. To the minister: how are municipalities supposed to keep families in the city core...

Dr. Swann: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Government utilization policy is forcing school boards to drain the city core of schools in favour of the suburbs. At the same time, cities like Edmonton and Calgary, in keeping with the government's own land-use framework, are trying to reduce urban sprawl and revitalize their cores, which is hard to do without good schools to attract people to the core. To the Premier: will the Premier commit to an...

Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have heard many of my constituents tell me that if you close down a school, you damage the community. Well, there have been lots of rumours about school closures, not just in the teachers' lounges but right here in the Legislature. My question is to the Minister of Education. What are you doing to keep schools open and keep Alberta's communities from further damage?...

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since 2002 15 public schools in the Edmonton public school division have been closed, resulting in 6,900 student spaces disappearing from central Edmonton neighbourhoods. My first question is to the Premier. Given that Alberta Education and the government project that we are going to have 80,000 more students in the system in the next 15 years than we presently have, does the government not think that these school...

The Calgary Herald recently published an article misleadingly titled "Calgary-area school bids to save cafeteria" that goes well beyond the challenges of operating a rural high school to discuss several other current concerns about education in Alberta. The article also covers concerns about what the spring budget will mean for education (read more here), the Stop the Cuts campaign (read more here), Inspiring Education and Setting the Direction, a potential school closure (which is the...