Jennifer Thompson, educational planner at Edmonton Catholic Schools, discusses the challenges and opportunities in school district planning, including the status of educational planning, similarities with regional municipal planning, opportunities in school district planning, and trends.
Thompson explains why school districts need planning. Planners in a school district act as an intermediary between the province, the city, developers, the public and school district administration. She discusses the many factors that go into choosing a school location – such as road design and proximity to houses – and planning for high needs students and schools, as well as identifying high needs areas and program needs and gaps.
Like a municipality or region, a school district has to manage assets, plan for future growth, enact infill strategies and provide services, but the main difference is that school districts are planning for a specific segment of the population. This presentation was a part of the Alberta Professional Planners Institute Edmonton Luncheon in February of 2015.
