The Yukon Party is 'committed to building a new school' in the Copper Ridge area, acting Education Minister Elaine Taylor said today.

Throughout this week's question period in the legislative assembly, Liberal MLA Pat Duncan has been highlighting the need for a new school with the growing population in the area.

However, it wasn't until Duncan tabled the Yukon Party's Copperbelt byelection candidate Cynthia Kearns' campaign flyer, which includes a commitment to build new school facilities, that Education Minister John Edzerza placed any sort of party support behind the promise.

'This government has said from day one, right from day one, that where there is a demonstrated need, this government will do its best to meet that commitment, and I would say today on the floor of this House that if the economy keeps growing and the enrolment keeps going up, this government will build a new school,' said Edzerza.

Kearns told the Star her promise of the new school was made to constituents with the 'total support of the Yukon Party.'

'There is a demonstrated need,' Taylor said in an interview this morning. A planning exercise will soon take place and dollars will likely be put aside in the next budget cycle, she added.

A Yukon-wide review of all existing school facilities will also be taking place soon, she said.

'I feel like Pat Duncan went and opened my Christmas present early,' said Kearns. 'She spoiled my surprise.'

Taylor declined to answer why the party hadn't announced plans for the school when Duncan started her line of questioning on Monday.

Instead, Taylor stated Edzerza was quite clear in his final answer in the legislature Wednesday that a school will be built in the future.

Kearns said the party hadn't yet announced the plans to build the new school on the floor of the house because it was letting her tell constituents.

'I'm not afraid of making any commitment that the party has approved,' said Kearns. She added that her flyer was seen and approved by the party before being handed out in the riding for the Nov. 21 byelection.

Edzerza's answers seemed less committed on Monday and Tuesday. He answered Duncan's questions with statements of how the Yukon Party has revitalized the territory's economy.

'Surely the number of children needing to go to the school has not increased that drastically in a couple of years that we now have to start building new schools in everyone's backyard,' Edzerza said.

Over the last two years, about 200 new homes have been built in the Copper Ridge area.

'Elijah Smith Elementary School is completely full,' Duncan told the house. 'It cannot accept any more students.'

Elijah Smith serves kindergarten to Grade 7 students living in Granger, Arkell, Copper Ridge, McIntyre, Valleyview, Hillcrest, McLean Lake, McCrae, the Lobird Trailer Park, Paddlewheel Village and Canyon Crescent.

Its current enrolment is 304 students, despite Department of Education projections that it would have an enrolment of 287 for September 2005.

'We aren't overcrowded yet, but we are at capacity,' school principal John Wright told the Star. 'Eventually, someone is going to have to put a new school in this area.'

Wright estimated the school has had to turn away approximately 20 students over the last year because of lack of space in various grade levels.

When this happens, parents are told which school has a capacity level that is able to accommodate their children, said David Sloan, the department's director of learning for the area.

Currently, the closest school with the most available space is Takhini Elementary School, he said, and that is where most parents agree to send their children.

About 13 students are bused to Takhini, he said, adding other parents choose to drive their children.

'The minister has watched that part of the city grow. The demand has increased and they have done nothing about it,' said Duncan.

The government currently owns land on Falcon Drive that was set aside for building a school. The department also owns plans for the proposed building.

Edzerza committed in the house on Tuesday that the department will be striking an independent committee to look at the capacity of schools in Whitehorse.

However, he maintained sending students to Takhini will likely be the immediate solution.

'I believe it would be a very nice day for every citizen in the territory if they could walk across the street to school, but that's not reality,' said Edzerza.

The department was somewhat surprised by the 'explosive growth' in Copper Ridge, said Sloan, because of the previously slow development of Granger, which began to be developed in the mid-1980s.

It has meant there has been a need to look at a variety of options on how to better serve the students' needs, he said.

There is also the possibility of examining catchment areas to redirect students to schools with low enrolments or adding portable classrooms to schools, he said.

Building a new school is a political decision the department is unable to comment on, said Sloan.

He added the department was not aware of plans to build a school in the area until this week's question periods in the legislature.

The only other school in the immediate area is the French-language Ecole Emilie-Tremblay.