A new quarterly report says two Calgary Board of Education schools received full construction approval by the Alberta government and three other new schools have entered design or planning stages.
According to a report attached to the CBE board of trustees’ meeting agenda on Tuesday, the CBE has received full construction approval from the province for two new school builds and two modernization projects. This includes Evanston Middle School, which will add another 900 seats for Grade 5 to 9 students, and Evanston Elementary School, which will add another 600 seats for K to Grade 4 students.
It also includes modernization projects for John G. Diefenbaker High School and the relocation of the Louise Dean Centre from Kensington School to Jack James High School.
Two new school builds and one modernization project have received design-only approval. This includes Annie Gale School (modernization), Cornerstone High School (new school) and Redstone Elementary School (new school). Cornerstone High School will add capacity for another 2,400 students while Redstone Elementary School will add capacity for an additional 600 students.
Saddle Ridge Middle School, which will add an additional 900 seats for Grades 5 to 9 students, is currently in the planning phase.
Modernization projects for A.E. Cross School and Sir John A. MacDonald School are currently in the pre-planning phase.
Dany Breton, superintendent of facilities and environmental services for the CBE, said all 13 schools prioritized in Year 1 of the 2025-2028 Three-Year Capital Plan are waiting for provincial approval even though the CBE already has the sites ready to begin construction.
“We have 13 sites that are ready for construction of a new school and so it’s just a question of having those approvals to be able to get working on the design, the specifications and the tendering of those projects,” he told LiveWire Calgary after Tuesday’s board meeting.
Breton also expressed optimism over the province’s new School Construction Accelerator Program because they don’t have to wait for new budget cycles to get construction and modernization projects approved.
Before the program was announced, the CBE would have to wait for the next budget cycle to get the next approval level for projects, which usually occurs in March every year.
“With this accelerated sort of processing immediately from design to full construction, we won’t have to wait until March to be able to get that next level of approval and funding. It’s a positive development,” Breton added.
Tuesday’s report also outlined approvals for 47 new modular classrooms and the relocation of 22 modular classrooms. Six modular classrooms were also approved for demolition.
Breton said the province’s promise to increase the budget for modular classrooms is also good news as it allows school districts like the CBE to “rapidly increase capacity” at existing schools. More than 143,000 students were enrolled across 251 CBE schools as of August 29, 2024, which is an estimated 5,000 additional students compared with last year’s numbers.
In total, the 47 new modular classrooms and the relocation of 17 modular classrooms will provide almost 2,000 additional spaces.
“There were some comments we don’t know the details about. We’re looking at ways to maybe be able to deliver those schools with different specifications that might be at a lower cost,” the superintendent said.
“If that also means more modular classrooms coming to school boards, then that will be phenomenal for parents who won’t have to worry about their child travelling as far to get to school.”
