Overcrowded Airdrie schools call for parental input

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With Airdrie colleges going through house crunches throughout larger grades, households are being requested to supply their enter on learn how to steadiness town’s quickly rising pupil enrolment.

The Rocky View Faculty District’s “Balancing Airdrie Pupil Areas” engagement is holding open homes Jan. 30, Jan. 31, and Feb. 6, and has additionally launched a web based survey this week, open till March 17.

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Officers admit households are annoyed with overcrowding, but in addition frightened about how potential modifications — together with reconfiguring grades at completely different colleges, altering boundaries or turning a center college right into a highschool — will affect their youngsters.

“Change is difficult, and disruption is difficult on youngsters, as a result of most college students like the place they’re at and so they wish to keep there. So having these modifications compelled on you could be very tough,” mentioned RVS board chair Fiona Gilbert.

“Most of our colleges are full … and these selections may probably affect each single household in RVS. There actually are far reaching impacts on all college students.”

Gilbert defined the district is especially challenged find areas amongst their three excessive colleges, which at the moment are at 110 per cent capability mixed.

Because of this, many college students are studying exterior of standard school rooms in libraries or band rooms, and strolling by means of more and more crowded hallways.

Airdrie excessive colleges over capability

Town of Airdrie isn’t anticipating any new excessive colleges for at the very least 4 years, Gilbert mentioned, regardless that W.H. Croxford Excessive Faculty is at 119 per cent capability, Bert Church Excessive Faculty is at 107 per cent and George McDougall Excessive Faculty is at 103 per cent.

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All three colleges now embrace Grade 9 college students as nicely. However one of many options can be to maneuver Grade 9s into numerous junior excessive and center colleges, Gilbert mentioned.

An alternative choice, she added, can be to rework C.W. Perry, now a Grade 5 to eight center college, right into a highschool solely.

On the identical time, Gilbert added RVS is anticipating an inflow of kindergarten college students subsequent 12 months, considerably greater than the Grade 12 college students that may graduate and go away the system.

Modifications wanted quickly: officers

Officers say that given the present over-utilization of some colleges, modifications might must be applied as early as 2024-25.

Final spring, officers with RVS raised the alarm after receiving no new development funding within the UCP authorities’s Funds 2023, saying it could imply additional house crunches and crowding in already-full colleges.

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Norma Lang, who was RVS board chair at the moment, mentioned officers had anticipated development funding for at the very least a few their badly wanted initiatives, however obtained solely design funding.

Lang estimated Alberta’s bed room communities have seen a number of the quickest progress in Canada over the previous 20 years, with Chestermere’s inhabitants up by 429 per cent, Airdrie by 256 per cent, and Cochrane by 171 per cent.

Catholic highschool enlargement seeing delays

Airdrie households with the Calgary Catholic Faculty District are additionally feeling the pressures of restricted pupil areas after issues have been raised final fall over the gradual progress of a serious highschool enlargement almost three years after receiving $40 million in provincial funding.

St. Martin de Porres Excessive Faculty — in Airdrie, however a part of CCSD — was compelled to delay the venture after an preliminary tender for development failed to gather compliant bids final summer season.

Pupil capability for that faculty will go from 450 to 1,200 as soon as the enlargement is full, with inhabitants progress anticipated to proceed.

Officers with Alberta Training have argued that faculty districts obtained report ranges of capital funding in Funds 2023, with as a lot as $1.6 billion for 58 college initiatives throughout the province over the subsequent three years.

Of that, as much as $372 million went towards 13 initiatives for full development funding, with every submission going by means of a good and detailed 10-step course of, the division mentioned.

For extra data on the RVS engagement go to rvsengage.com/balancing-airdrie-student-spaces

eferguson@postmedia.com

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