New Brunswick announces six new school projects in latest education budget

Two of Moncton’s oldest schools will be replaced in the coming years.

New Brunswick announced Wednesday it will spend $242.7 million on education infrastructure, including six new school projects, in 2026-2027.

The funding, which is the largest capital budget to date from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, is meant to address the growing demands on the education system in the province and ease pressures relating to aging infrastructure.

“With a 25 per cent increase in our department’s capital budget, we are investing more than ever in reliable infrastructure to help build a brighter future for New Brunswick students,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Claire Johnson.

“We know how important learning environments are to student success and are pleased to be building on the work we started last year with new capital investments. Spending responsibly on our infrastructure now is an investment in our future, and on what matters to New Brunswickers.”

According to a release from the province, the funding includes $9.7 million for new projects, $4 million for large-scale capital improvements, and $229 million for current projects.

The budget also includes funding for modular programs, new equipment, improvements and repairs, and the dust collector program that ensures schools are safe.

Six major capital projects will begin in 2026-2027, including:

• three new English-language kindergarten-to-Grade 8 schools in the Oromocto area to replace seven existing schools
• a new French-language school for the Woodstock area
• a new English-language kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school in the Moncton region to replace Forest Glen and Sunny Brae schools
• a mid-life upgrade and addition to École Mathieu-Martin in Dieppe
• a mid-life upgrade and addition to Bonar Law Memorial High School in Five Rivers
• a mid-life upgrade and addition to École Sainte-Anne in Fredericton

The new francophone school in Woodstock is being added based on census data to ensure minority language education rights are protected and promoted.

“We are immensely proud of being Canada’s only officially bilingual province,” said Johnson. “It is fundamental to New Brunswick that students from both linguistic communities can access the education they need in the official language they speak. We will continue to provide that, and to perform ongoing evaluations to ensure that these charter needs are met everywhere in the province.”

The department also released a priority ranking list for school infrastructure projects for 2026-2027 on Wednesday. Projects will be identified as priorities annually through the department’s capital planning and evaluation process.

The Stable Departmental Infrastructure Priorities project list was updated as part of the department’s capital budget for the year.

The following projects are included on the current list, with the bottom five being new additions this year:

• mid-life upgrade and addition at Riverview High School
• mid-life upgrade and addition at Oromocto High School
• mid-life upgrade and addition at École Amirault in Dieppe
• mid-life upgrade and addition at Centre scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain in Saint John
• new school to replace Devon Middle School in Fredericton
• new kindergarten-to-Grade 5 school to replace Mountain View School in Maple Hills
• mid-life upgrade at Saint John High School
• mid-life upgrade and addition at École Carrefour Beausoleil in Miramichi
• mid-life upgrade at Woodstock High School
• mid-life upgrade and addition at Princess Elizabeth School in Saint John
• new school to replace M. Gerald Teed Memorial School in Saint John
• new kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school to replace schools in McAdam
• new kindergarten-to-Grade 5 school to replace Montgomery Street School in Fredericton
• replacement for Keswick Ridge School
• addition at Leo Hayes High School

The list will allow district education councils to determine which improvement projects will be required over the next five years. Projects will remain on the list until it is funded.

‘Both schools are past due’: Aging Moncton schools to be replaced

Sunny Brae, for students from Grade 5 to 8, was built in 1956 and is one of the oldest schools in Greater Moncton.

Forest Glen is a K-4 school and was built in 1965.

Anglophone East School District Superintendent Randy MacLEAN said it was a request they made years ago.

“Both schools are past due,” said MacLEAN. “It comes with a lot of excitement, a lot of thanks and a lot of appreciation and forward thinking with what it’s going to look like next.”

MacLEAN said the tentative plan is the build the new K-8 school where Forest Glen currently stands.

There is a large field behind the school’s playground.

“Our understanding, so this is not in stone, our understanding that the new school will be built on the current location at Forest Glen. We do have enough space there to build a new school and then drop the old school,” said MacLEAN. “All indications is that we have secured a location which will escalate the timeline in terms of putting shovels in the ground.”

MacLEAN said work begins right after Christmas by bringing a design team together to come up with a plan for the new school.

Parents lined up at Forest Glen to pick up their children after school Wednesday afternoon.

Jennifer Cassidy said a replacement school is welcome news.

“I actually attended this school from Grade 1 to 9 so I’m looking forward to a new one, yes,” said Cassidy.

Dale Stimpson was picking up his grandchild and said he doesn’t have any problem with the tentative plan of tearing down the old school and building on the same grounds.

“I really don’t. If it’s going to be modern and it’s good for the kids it’s fine,” said Stimpson.

Al Richard said it would be nice to have all the kids from kindergarten to Grade 8 in the same spot, but he’s a little skeptical right now.

“I’m in the when I see it, I’ll believe it scenario. If they want to do it, great. I hope they do it. I hope they make something great out of this,” said Richard.

MacLEAN said the city and district enrollment continues to grow and they’re doing everything they can to make it work.

“We’re up over 20,500 [enrollment] now and projections next year we expect to be over 21,000,” said MacLEAN.

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