New Catholic school update; final documents sent to procurement

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 13, 2025.

Medicine Hat Catholic School Board trustees received an update on the construction of the new Holy Trinity Academy during their regular meeting Tuesday.

Superintendent Dwayne Zarichny told trustees the project manager has received final documents from the architect and sent them to procurement on Tuesday morning.

Zarichny says assuming there are no errors in the documents, the tender for the new school should be up this week.

This is the next step in getting shovels in the ground later this year as the division is projecting the new K-9 school will be complete by 2027.

Int’l student tuition fee hikes

Board trustees voted to increase fees related to international education opportunities following a proposal to increase three items made by the division’s director of international education.

International education tuition fees will be increased by $500 to $11,000 per year for the next two years.

The Home Stay program will be increased by $1,000 to $10,000 per year, and there will also be a $50 activity fee increase, totalling $500 per year.

In total the annual tuition cost for international students will increase $1,550 to $23,600 per year over the next two-years.

“The reason for this is the cost of running those programs, and comparisons to similar programs” explains Greg MacPherson, secretary treasurer.

2026-27 school calendar

Working ahead, trustees approved the draft proposed 2026-27 school calendar after reviewing data from a survey conducted earlier in the school year.

The survey received more than 420 responses from stakeholders and schools, and was used to form the criteria for the school calendar and has been shared with local Alberta Teachers’ Association representatives for feedback.

“There wasn’t a lot of concern, generally the feedback has been very positive on the calendar,” said Nick Gail, deputy superintendent. “The response I got back from their (ATA) president today was that she only has a couple comments about having an additional professional development day in September, but overall, a very balanced calendar.”

Gail says the division worked to better distribute PDs after receiving feedback from teachers.