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Koni Macdonald
It’s confirmed: 32 new private–public partnerships (P3) schools are slated to be built in Alberta by 2012.
The Alberta government will contract out the design and construction of 32 new schools using the P3 model—18 in the first phase to be completed by 2010, and 14 in the second phase to be completed by 2012, says Kathy Telfer, Alberta Education’s communications director.
While the construction of new schools is overdue, the provincial government’s decision to use the P3 approach is controversial. Governments use P3s to avoid running up short-term debt by treating the cost of financing the P3 as an ongoing expense.
P3s are a waste of taxpayers’ money, warns economic consultant Hugh Mackenzie, author of Doing the Math: Why P3s for Alberta Schools Don’t Add Up (January 2008), conducted for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
"If it looks like debt and makes calls on the future fiscal capacity of the province like debt, it’s debt," says Mackenzie. "The claim that risk transfer justifies the higher financing costs associated with P3 projects simply does not hold up. For every two schools that you can build under the P3 model, if you built them all conventionally, you could build three."
Telfer disagrees that the government is wasting taxpayers’ money using the P3 approach. New schools will still be owned by taxpayers but with less initial financial risk, she says.
"Schools have been built this way in Scotland and Australia, and we have done our research," says Telfer. "With all the growth and change in the province, we need schools where students live. Parents aren’t questioning where the money is coming from; they’re just happy that, finally, they’re getting a school where they need one."
According to Telfer, the government’s Alberta Schools Alternative Procurement P3 process is a made-in-Alberta model that takes advantage of efficiencies of scale in construction, evaluates bids with relation to public-sector comparisons to ensure value for money, forecasts extended costs over a 30-year period to determine the best value offered, incorporates design efficiencies using a core-school approach, transfers the risk of facility maintenance failure back to the builder and includes a renewal process.
Three groups have advanced to the final round of bidding for the first phase of the P3 school construction project (only one group will be selected): New Alberta Schools, led by Carillion Canada Inc., and Acciona SA; B&B Alberta Schools led by Babcock & Brown Canada ULC; and Plenary Education Alberta led by Plenary Group Ltd. Each finalist is backed by a consortium of foreign multinational firms. The winning contractor will also have a 30-year deal for major maintenance and repair, such as replacing boilers and roofs.
"It’s usually cash-strapped governments that resort to P3s," says ATA President Frank Bruseker. "Alberta does not need to finance schools this way but if the government is determined to pursue partnerships with the private sector to fund school construction, clear guarantees need to be in place."
School facilities must provide an environment that enhances the quality of teaching and learning. Teachers, students and community members must be able to use the facilities without restrictions and without having to pay additional fees. All aspects of facility operation and maintenance must be subject to the direction of the principal and school board, and ownership of the facilities must revert to the board at the conclusion of the project. Finally, the government must be able to demonstrate how it will deliver these schools at less cost than the publicly funded alternative, says Bruseker.
"Alberta needs more schools, not more private partnerships. The province has the financial capacity to build schools; let’s get on it!"
14 more new schools announced
On June 14, 2007, the government announced that nine schools were scheduled to be built in Edmonton and nine in Calgary. On January 30, 2008, the government announced that it was moving forward with the following 14 additional schools.
Calgary Board of Education
Coventry Hills Middle School (900 students, Grades 5–9)
Northwest Senior High School (1,500 students, Grades 10–12)
Taradale Middle School (900 students, Grades 5–9)
Panorama Middle School (900 students, Grades 5–9)
Tuscany Middle School (900 students, Grades 5–9)
Calgary Catholic School District
Copperfield Elementary School (650 students, Grades K–6)
Edmonton Public School Board
Griesbach School (550 students, Grades K–9)
Ellerslie Elementary School (850 students, Grades K–9)
Grange School (850 students, Grades K–9)
Edmonton Catholic School District
Terwillegar High School (700 students, Grades 10–12)
In addition, Elk Island Catholic is to receive a high school in Sherwood Park (1,400 students, Grades 9–12), Evergreen Catholic is to receive a high school in Spruce Grove (800 students, Grades 9–12), Foothills School Division is to receive a school in Okotoks (500 students, Grades K–9) and Rocky View School Division is to receive a school in Langdon (450 students, Grades K–6).
There are also additional modernization and maintenance dollars slated for specific schools in Drayton Valley, Fort McMurray, Fort Saskatchewan, Kinuso, Lethbridge, Millet, Namao, Olds, Picture Butte, Rainbow Lake, Rainer, Sexsmith, St. Paul, Thorsby, Vauxhall, Vilna, Wainwright and Whitecourt.
In the 2007/08 fiscal year, the government is planning a total investment of approximately $610 million for school building, modernization and maintenance.
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