In or out?

That’s the question the local school board has sent to the town of Jasper regarding a proposed land swap for a new school.

Following a recent school board meeting, the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) has sent a letter to the town of Jasper requesting their interest in pursuing a land swap on the bowling green lands.

“It’s still our number one capital project and we’re still moving forward,” said Nikki Gilks, spokeswoman with GYPSD.

“We’re sending another request to the municipality to see if they are interested in pursuing a property transfer.... we’re putting a letter forward asking: are you or are you not interested in moving forward.”

While the school board insists they’ve made the same request since 2008, the town states they are still looking for clarification from the school board on the issue.

Gilks said there is a great deal of public interest in the proposal, but said the school board can’t make a decision until it gets an answer from the town.

“There has been public interest, but we’re stuck,” Gilks said.

While the town of Jasper continues to debate the location of a proposed new school, no new funds were included in the provincial budget.

The province will spend $513 million on school capital projects in 2010, however that money has already been earmarked for other improvement projects.

“All of the money will go to projects that have already been announced,” said Kathy Telfer, spokeswoman with Alberta Education.

No new schools will be built in the local school board in 2010/2011.

While spending more than $500 million on new capital projects in education may sound like a lot, it is actually a massive reduction in spending from 2009.

In 2009, the province spent $713 million on school capital projects.

The province plans to spend a billion dollars over three years as part of its school capital program. The municipality of Jasper, Parks Canada and the Grande Yellowhead Public School division are still attempting to come to an agreement on the site of a new high school. The school board prefers the bowling green site, while the town is asking for more details on the arrangement. Last year, the community put forth a third option, called option C which would preserve the dog park.

Before funding can be approved, a location must be chosen.

On a whole, the province will spend $6.1 billion on education in 2010/2011.