City needs 11 schools but gets four
Finance minister says funding addresses ‘priorities, not wish lists’
Emphasizing there’s only enough money for urgent priorities, not “wish lists,” the provincial government announced funding for four new elementary schools and one high school modernization to be completed in Calgary over the next four years.
And while local school officials admitted the funding in Budget 2017 doesn’t meet even half of what’s required to build the 11 schools needed to keep up with growth, they hope to work with the province on funding remaining schools in future budgets.
“Investing in new schools is one of the most important things we can do. Some are bursting at the seams, others are in dire need of retrofitting,” Finance Minister Joe Ceci said Tuesday at Forest Lawn High School, which will receive upgrades and expansions over the next four years.
“We are addressing needs where we can, and doing the work that we can. Next year, we’ll be looking to add to that,” Ceci said. “But we’re addressing priorities, not wish lists.”
The Calgary Board of Education had asked for funding for up to eight new schools in its three-year capital plan approved earlier this month, while the Calgary Catholic School District needs funding for three.
Instead, the CBE will get funding for only three new schools and one modernization. That translates to $63 million combined for Cranston, Evergreen and Coventry Hills Elementary Schools over four years, and $24 million for the Forest Lawn High School modernization.
The CCSD will get about $16 million for one school in Calgary, an elementary in Auburn Bay. The district will also get a second school in Airdrie.
Joy Bowen-Eyre, CBE chair, said “we still have a number of other projects on our list of needs, and we will continue to need funding for those new schools.”
CCSD chair Cheryl Low added that, in spite of the economic downturn, “this city continues to grow. We’re already operating at 93 per cent utilization. We are growing at about 2.4 per cent every year and over the past five years we added up to 8,000 new students into our system.”
Parents were the most fearful of what a continued lack of funding will mean for an already overburdened school system.
“We know now there is a freight train coming and it involves large class sizes, a loss of music rooms, resource rooms and library spaces to be converted into class space,” said Lisa Davis, founder of the student advocacy group Kids Come First.
“How can we have a $71-billion debt and still not have enough schools? How is that even possible?”
Last week’s provincial budget estimated operating costs at $55 billion over the next year, borrowing more than $12 billion for capital projects and operational spending. The debt will rise to $45 billion in the next year, and is expected to balloon to $71 billion in three years.
Up to $500 million was announced for 26 new schools across Alberta, with about one-fifth of that total going to Calgary.
Bowen-Eyre said Tuesday’s announcementmeansthesystemwill continue to be overburdened, but she welcomed funding for three new elementary schools, making the youngest students a priority.
“We really value three new K-4 schools because it’s so important to keep little ones close to home.”
And while a number of junior and senior high schools will have a longer wait for funding, Forest Lawn High School will benefit from a major expansion to its computer and technology labs, shop space and fine arts programming.
Bowen-Eyre explained that Forest Lawn students have struggled with outdated technology in labs for quite some time, making it more difficult to adjust to new technology in post-secondary schools and the workplace.
Odessa Voykin, a Grade 12 student at Forest Lawn who hopes to study psychology at Mount Royal University next year, said her school and its students will see huge benefits from the modernization.
“The high school years are such an important time in terms of figuring out what you want to do with your life,” she said.
“And if you can already get a really solid foundation in terms of your skills in high school, you’ll do that much better in your postsecondary courses.”