The Drenthe Village will build a new school on the ‘Halvemaanstraat’. The building will include a childcare and youth centre. The City Council has approved the plan on Tuesday.
The total cost for the construction of the new school will be nearly five million euros. Construction will begin this summer and is expected to be finished by August 2014. All parties agree that the neighbourhood is ready for the new building because the current school is out-dated, but there are concerns from some political parties, in particular the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Christian Democrats (CDA). The parties are afraid that in the future the school will have problems keeping student enrolment going because there won’t be enough children. Because of the economic crisis at this moment, housing construction in the neighbourhood is at a very low point. The Labour Party would prefer more guarantees to prevent possible vacancies within the school, but the majority of the council thinks it will not come to that because the building will be multifunctional. Should there be empty classrooms, they could be used for other purposes or other schools may use the premises as well.
