MAJOR BUILDING BOOM MODERNIZES CLASSES
Calgary boards work to construct new facilities, update old ones
They might not be hosting any ribbon cutting ceremonies this fall, but Calgary’s two school boards are running full speed getting new schools ready for fall 2016, modernizing several older ones, and crossing their fingers that Alberta’s first NDP government keeps the funding flowing.
Calgary Catholic School District chairwoman Linda Wellman says she’s hopeful that having a new government will mean continued support for building new schools and maintaining old ones.
This in the wake of the NDP committing $ 103 million to education this past May, a plan that included reversing controversial cuts the previous Progressive Conservative government announced.
“We were delighted to hear the news that they will be restoring the practice of funding enrolment growth,” Wellman says. “With the PCs … there was the unprecedented decision ( not to) fund us for new students coming to us, and it was pretty detrimental.”
Wellman says hot spots for future school development include Calgary’s deep south, where construction of a new high school is planned for Legacy this fall, with completion expected for the 201718 school year.
A school was originally planned near Seton on the east side of the river, but earlier this year the Catholic board opted to construct one in Legacy first to meet the shorterterm need south of Highway 22X.
The Catholic district has indicated a high school is still needed in the deep southeast, though it currently sits relatively low on the priority list for the system’s 201619 capital plan.
There is also ongoing need in north Calgary, where an elementary/ junior high in Skyview Ranch, also set for construction this fall with a 2017 opening, will reduce the need to bus students down to Coral Springs.
“In north- central ( Calgary), we’re looking at a 102 per cent utilization rate,” Wellman says, reiterating that 85 per cent is considered full by provincial standards.
“It’s become a space crunch and you have to look at accommodation while providing students the best education you can.”
Some relief is in sight. A K- 9 school is set to open in Evanston for fall 2016, and a second proposed Catholic district school for the community is awaiting funding. Elsewhere in the city, a K- 6 school in Aspen Woods is set to open next year, as is a K- 9 in Auburn Bay; a K- 6 in Cranston; and a K- 6 in New Brighton.
Looking further ahead, other Catholic schools set to open in 2017 include a K- 6 in Mahogany; a K- 9 in Silverado; and a K- 9 in Sherwood.
In the public system, “( There are) 31 major capital projects underway, which is more than has ever been experienced in Calgary before,” says Frank Coppinger, superintendent of facilities and environmental services for the Calgary Board of Education.
The building boom includes 14 new schools proposed for completion by fall 2016: elementary schools in Aspen Woods, Auburn Bay, Copperfield, Evanston, New Brighton, Panorama Hills, Saddle Ridge and Tuscany; middle schools serving Rocky Ridge/ Royal Oak, McKenzie Towne, Saddle Ridge and New Brighton/ Copperfield; and Nelson Mandela high school in the northeast.
More schools are in the pipe for 2017 and 2018, pending funding.
Coppinger says the main growth area for the public board is the south and central north, with the board targeting an 80 per cent average utilization rate for its schools.
Right now the average is 85 per cent, though some schools are well above the 100 per cent mark, he adds.
The CBE is also constructing a replacement building for Christine Meikle School, which houses a program for students with special needs.
Another replacement under construction is Elbow Park School, which was all but destroyed in the 2013 flood. Coppinger says the cost for retaining three walls was too high, so plans are for only the original front wall to be retained behind a brand- new construction that should be completed by December 2016.
Major modernization projects are underway at both Bowness and Jack James high schools. The updating of 60- year- old Bowness is expected to add updated career, fitness and art facilities.
When complete, renovations at Jack James will allow enhanced Career and Technology Studies programs, while also upgrading infrastructure on the 35- year- old school.
Both projects are expected to be finished by fall 2016.
Additional modernization projects at Lord Beaverbrook and James Fowler highs are due by fall 2017.
Coppinger says modernizing aging schools is vital to ensure students have access to the latest programs, technology and equipment. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“Most of our schools have a design life of 50 years … 66 per cent of our schools in the next decade will be older than 50 years,” he says. “The components that make up a school … if we are to keep those schools going, we need to replace those components.”
If you add up modernizing and deferred maintenance costs, the public board has a funding backlog of about $ 1 billion, says Coppinger.
We were delighted to hear that they will be restoring the practice of funding enrolment growth.