Wild Rose School Division would like to inform students, parents, guardians and community members of some structural issues we are working on regarding H.W. Pickup School.

H.W. Pickup School opened in 2010 and as such is considered to be a relatively new school building. Unfortunately, not long after the school opened, the building began showing signs of wall movement and floor heaving. Yearly inspections began in 2012 along with repairs to fix the problems being caused by the heaving.

On March 6, 2019, representatives from Alberta Education, Alberta Infrastructure, BEI Engineering (2000) Inc. and WRSD once again met at H.W. Pickup School to view the impacts of the floor and wall movement and to discuss next steps. At this meeting we were advised to take some short-term remediation measures that will take place this coming summer. However, we were also told that these measures are only short term in order to ensure the ongoing safe use of H.W. Pickup School. These measures will not repair the underlying cause of the shifting floors. Fixing the shifting floor is a very costly capital project that can only be funded by Alberta Education. As such, we included this project in our capital plan submission to Alberta Education. We feel confident that our request for funding will be given serious consideration, especially knowing that Alberta Education has been with us in the monitoring of this problem from the beginning.

Although we have submitted this project as part of our Three Year Capital Plan, we have not received approval and funding for this project. Once approved, this project would take several months to complete and would most likely require us to vacate a portion or all of the school during the repair. It is anticipated that the new replacement Evergreen School will be open by the time this major repair begins. In addition, we have put our plans on hold to reduce the size of Eldorado School as we had originally intended. This surplus space at Eldorado School and the new replacement Evergreen School (which is scheduled to open January 2021) will provide the necessary space to temporarily move students and staff out of H.W. Pickup School when the time comes to complete this repair.

We want to thank the students, staff and parents/guardians of H.W. Pickup School for your patience during these past years and as we anticipate fixing the problem. Please understand that the safety of our students and staff has always been and will continue to be our top priority in this regard. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Brad Volkman, Superintendent of Schools (403-845-3376).