CALGARY – The Rocky View School Division has sent an urgent request to the province calling for extra classroom space.
The focus is on two schools that opened recently and are already overcrowded.
The request, submitted on Thursday, outlines their wish to relocate two modular classrooms from Nose Creek Elementary to Herons Crossing in Airdrie — and to build an addition to Herons Crossing.
In addition, they wish to attach 16 new modular classrooms to Chestermere’s K-8 East Lake School, which just opened this month.
The value of the emergent capital request is approximately $25 million.
“We’ve basically exhausted all of our accommodation options,” explains Board Chair Colleen Munro. “We’ve sold a major asset to build Herons Crossing, we’ve shifted attendance boundaries and grade configurations to create greater equity, and spent the majority of each summer moving modulars from one school to another.”
“In short, the province’s approval of this emergent request may be our only hope.”
Herons Crossing
Herons Crossing, which opened in 2012, has reached space utilization of 117.1%, and is expected to rise to 145.5% by September of 2015 unless additional space is provided.
East Lake School
East Lake School opened in September of 2014 with a utilization rate of 112%. It’s expected to rise to 134.2% by September of 2015 unless additional space is provided.
Why Nose Creek Elementary?
Airdrie’s Nose Creek Elementary is the only school identified as having surplus modular classroom space, according to Associate Superintendent Darrell Couture.
“With the reconfiguration of Airdrie’s attendance boundaries last year to accommodate the opening of our new Gr. 5-8 school, C.W. Perry, and a reconfiguration of Ralph McCall from a K-8 to K-4, Nose Creek’s utilization decreased and currently is 75.1 percent,” said Couture.
“Any future growth in its current attendance area is anticipated to be addressed by the opening of a new elementary school in Coopers in 2016.”
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