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The CBE’s superintendent of facilities said it’s likely there won’t be more information on modernizations and new builds until next year’s provincial budget
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As enrolment surges this fall and thousands of families await new schools in their community, public school board trustees are asking when they’ll get more details on future projects after getting funding for only one modernization this year.
Among 13 projects approved for construction funding in this year’s UCP budget, the Calgary Board of Education has received approval for only one — a $33-million modernization at John Diefenbaker High School expected to take three years to complete.
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Other high-priority projects — including new schools in Cornerstone and Saddleridge, and modernizations at Annie Gale, A.E. Cross and Sir John A. Macdonald — were also approved to receive funds for “planning” or “preplanning.” But questions remain over what that involves.
And while the UCP campaigned this spring on funding 58 projects provincewide for construction, design and planning, CBE officials have received no information as to how much planning dollars future projects will get.
“Given the unprecedented enrolment growth we’ve seen in CBE schools, the need for school space has never been greater,” trustee Susan Vukadinovic said at a recent CBE board meeting.
“We have thousands of families in Calgary who are waiting for a CBE school to be built in their community, and thousands of families in Calgary who are waiting for the aging school in their neighbourhood to receive a major modernization.”
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Board will likely have to wait until next provincial budget for answers: superintendent of facilities
Vukadinovic said the CBE is advocating for full construction funding for eight projects — listing new schools in Redstone, Cornerstone, Evanston and Saddleridge, as well as upgrades at Annie Gale, Crescent Heights, A.E. Cross and Sir John A. Macdonald.
“Given that one out of every six students in all of Alberta is a CBE student, it stands to reason that one out of every six capital dollars spent on school projects in Alberta should go toward meeting the needs of Calgary families at CBE schools.
“I’m really hoping families in Calgary will hear from the provincial government this year that all eight of these priority capital requests will be approved for full funding during this 2023-24 school year.”
Trustee Nancy Close said she is also looking for more details on where other priority projects are at, and when funding for planning or preplanning stages will come.
“I am curious about whether we have more information around the intention of those stages and information related to securing final funding for those priority projects.”
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But Dany Breton, CBE superintendent of facilities, said planning work hasn’t started and it’s likely there won’t be more information until next year’s provincial budget.
“It does take quite a number of months after the government announces preplanning, planning, design or construction before we actually see the official letters that come from the ministry that allow us to then start work,” Breton said.
“In these cases, in terms of preplanning and planning approvals, we still have not actually started work on that with Alberta Education and Infrastructure.
“The next step is to wait until a March-ish time frame, when the government completes its review of its next budget, to see what it can afford and what its priorities are.”
Major population gains in Alberta causing enrolment to skyrocket, province says
The reality of unprecedented enrolment growth is hitting schools hard this fall, with parents and teachers already reporting overcrowded classrooms and learning spaces spilling into hallways, libraries, gyms and staff rooms.
With official enrolment data expected in the next two weeks, the CBE has estimated more than 7,000 new students arriving in schools this fall, on top of last year’s 5,000. Before the pandemic, CBE welcomed an average of 1,500 new students a year.
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New data released last week by Statistics Canada showed Alberta set a record for net interprovincial migration growth last year, contributing to an overall population gain of more than four per cent, the fastest year-over-year demographic growth in Canada.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said Alberta is seeing unprecedented levels of population growth, noting that between April 2022 and April 2023 the provincial population grew by more than 200,000.
“The Alberta Advantage is back and booming, and I recognize this significant growth is putting pressure on our school divisions,” he said.
“The Calgary Board of Education received over $1.3 billion in operating funding from the provincial government to support our students, and similarly we are working to build new schools in our growing communities.”
Nicolaides added the ministry is working with CBE on developing submissions for approved planning and preplanning projects to prepare them for full construction funding in “upcoming budgets.”
Thanks to funding from previous years, CBE opened two new schools in 2023 — Prairie Sky, a K-9 school in Skyview last April, and North Trail High School in Harvest Hills this fall — both of which are already full.
eferguson@postmedia.com
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