WHITE CITY — Opposition New Democrats are renewing their calls for a new high school to be built in White City, as well as to address enrolment pressures at the local elementary schools.
At a news conference Thursday in White City, Opposition Education Critic Matt Love said the Sask Party government “need to stop stalling and finally get behind the needed high school in this community, a community that's been demanding that high school for many years.”
“This school was needed here years ago. Families in White City and Emerald Park have made it crystal clear that getting the school built is a top priority. Town Council is on board, the school division has been asking for years for this project, and parents have collected nearly 800 signatures in support of building a high school. And still not a word from the Sask Party government. These are two of the fastest-growing communities in our entire province, and yet White City and Emerald Park remain the only communities with a combined population over 5,000 people that doesn't have a high school.”
Municipal Affairs critic Jared Clarke accused the government of leaving White City behind, and of refusing to “invest in the basic infrastructure that this community needs.”
“This isn't a wish list. This is a necessity. If you want to build strong communities and you want to keep families here, you need a local high school.”
Shahnaz Sultana, a councillor in White City, pointed to the community’s fast pace of growth with a population that increased by over 23 per cent in five years, and with over a quarter of residents under the age of 15. She also noted a new school won’t happen immediately, even if the government gives it the go-ahead right away.
“We need to plan ahead," said Sultana. "If new schools are approved today, they won't open tomorrow. It takes years to design and build these facilities. And we are already behind. Our community needs a high school. We also need an additional elementary school to keep up with current demand and prepare for the new development.”
Currently, most high school students from White City take the bus to Greenall High School in Balgonie, while others go to Regina. A new high school for White City had been an election promise by the NDP during the recent provincial election.
The Sask Party reaction at that time noted the high school had not even been on the top three list of priorities for Prairie Valley School Division in their capital requests for the year. They also pointed to an addition and renovation at Greenall High School that was already under way.
In response to that, Love said school divisions “have a lot of capital needs,” but a new high school has been something the school division has requested for years.
“So Prairie Valley School Division had been requesting this school for a number of years, for nearly a decade, and I understand that that request is at the top of their list, or near the top of their list, for a number of years, and then other projects passed it as they identified greater needs,” said Love.
“The fact remains that they have been asking for this for a long time, and the government didn't say a word… Had this government been focused on the future, they would have announced this project when it was at the top of the list for Prairie Valley School Division, and then that school would be in place today for the 5,000 residents of these communities who don't have a high school. So, I mean, those are the facts. School divisions are always making difficult decisions as far as what they put at the top of their list, but again, this is a decade of history here for these communities and the needs of their children.”
The government has issued the following response to the NDP news conference today, one which reiterated some of their previous statements on the whole issue:
"The Ministry of Education continues to work closely with school divisions to address their top capital needs. The 2025-26 Education Budget includes $140 million to support 26 new or replacement schools and three major renovation projects that are currently underway. For Prairie Valley School Division specifically, the Government of Saskatchewan addressed their top capital priority in 2023 with a new renovation and expansion for Greenall High School. Prairie Valley’s top three capital priorities for 2026-27 does not include either a new elementary or high school in White City as part of their submission."
