“Public schools just beyond the city limits are bursting at the seams with student growth, but no new construction funding in this year’s budget means further space crunches and crowding, officials say.”

Public schools just beyond the city limits are bursting at the seams with student growth, but no new construction funding in this year’s budget means further space crunches and crowding, officials say.

Public schools just beyond the city limits are bursting at the seams with student growth, but no new construction funding in this year’s budget means further space crunches and crowding, officials say.

“Our expectation was that we would get construction funding for at least a couple of the projects we’ve been advocating for . . . but we are very disappointed,” said Norma Lang, board chair at Rocky View Schools.

“We have not been able to keep up with enrolment, which has been triggered by huge population growth in our communities — some are among the fastest-growing municipalities in Canada.”

Lang said that in the past two decades, Chestermere’s population has gone up by 429 per cent, Airdrie by 256 per cent, and Cochrane by 171 per cent.

Rocky View requested construction funding for a new K-8 school in Airdrie, as well as a list of other priorities in Cochrane and Chestermere, but only received design funding for Airdrie.

Alberta Education did approve full construction funding for an independent francophone school in Airdrie.

Lang said she is especially frustrated after Rocky View’s strong advocacy and meetings with UCP government officials, noting that it takes about four years to build a school even after construction approval, and design funding offers no guarantee of building funds the following year.

“By 2026, we will have more students than spaces,” Lang said.

“That’s hard on students and their learning,” she added, noting more schools are using common spaces such as gyms, libraries and cafeterias for classrooms.

Rocky View requested construction funding for a new K-8 school in Airdrie, as well as a list of other priorities in Cochrane and Chestermere, but only received design funding for Airdrie.

Alberta Education did approve full construction funding for an independent francophone school in Airdrie.

Lang said she is especially frustrated after Rocky View’s strong advocacy and meetings with UCP government officials, noting that it takes about four years to build a school even after construction approval, and design funding offers no guarantee of building funds the following year.

“By 2026, we will have more students than spaces,” Lang said.

“That’s hard on students and their learning,” she added, noting more schools are using common spaces such as gyms, libraries and cafeterias for classrooms.

“From FSD’s perspective, we are in an untenable position. Our class sizes are the largest they have been,” Letendre said.

“Today, we are not only looking at a school that is bursting at the seams for at least the next four years, but also our students will continue to come into a high school that is overcrowded, negatively impacting the rich, meaningful learning experiences they all deserve.”

Last week, Alberta Education announced as much as $1.6 billion in capital funding for 58 school projects across the province over the next three years. Of that, up to $372 million will go toward 13 projects that received full construction funding for new schools or modernizations this year.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange has said the UCP government is funding education at record levels and considers each application for capital funding through a detailed 10-step process.

“We are committed to building schools to help address enrolment growth, classroom complexity and modernizing schools to support 21st-century learning,” LaGrange said at last week’s announcement.