It strains reason a little bit: education critic grills deputy minister over school capital plan

Provincial NDP education critic Paul Wozney answers questions from reporters following a news conference on April 29, 2025. Photo by Ryan TaplinArticle contentIn her June report, Nova Scotia’s Auditor General was critical of the province and its school capital plan for not keeping pace with a booming population growth.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThe provincial NDP education and early childhood development critic echoed the same criticism at a recent public accounts meeting in Halifax.Article contentArticle content“Anybody that lives in Bedford or Dartmouth would tell you that the explosive population growth that we’re experiencing now was clearly on the horizon,” said Paul Wozney, a former schoolteacher and past president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.Article contentArticle content“They were already dealing with those pressures. I taught in one of those communities, and I have many friends that live in the other. So, the idea that it came out of nowhere, I think it strains reason a little bit.”Article contentTracey Barbrick, the deputy minister of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, said the province wasn’t prepared for the population boom “because nobody was prepared for this kind of growth.”Article content“Now, we’re paying catch up,” Barbrick said at the public accounts meeting.Article content“The most important part is six schools, six communities we’re in critical need, all six are proceeding and have been announced.”Article contentIn October 2023, Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) submitted six communities in order of preference for new growth schools: Bedford, Timberlea, Dartmouth, Port Wallace, Millwood and Sandy Lake.Article contentArticle contentThe government announced the following September new schools for Timberlea, Port Wallace, Millwood and Sandy Lake, and added the Bedford and Dartmouth schools in February of this year.Article contentThe AG was unable to ascertain how the department arrived at the decision to proceed with four of six HRCE schools on the district’s priority list.Article contentAt the public accounts meeting, Wozney questioned why Dartmouth and Bedford were announced months later than the other four schools on the HRCE list.Article content“We were not projecting this kind of population growth, we were responding to unexpected growth, the likes of which the province hadn’t seen,” Barbrick said. “Those are the things that Auditor General Adair commented on, and we 100 per cent accept, and are working on that now.Article content“Those six growth schools were identified by HRCE all on enrolment, all on their heat maps, all on what we know is to be growth in the province. Those six were identified. They were all critical-need areas based on population growth, and all six were announced.”