Three Calgary school projects will be fast-tracked to the next stage of the construction process under the province’s new School Construction Accelerator Program.
The program, which was announced in September last year, aims to build around 50,000 new student spaces over the next three years and another 150,000 new spaces over the next four years after that.
The new schools include a K-4 school and a K-6 school in the northeast neighbourhood of Redstone and a high school in the northeast neighbourhood in Cornerstone.
In a rare Saturday afternoon news conference, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told reporters that “unprecedented enrolment growth” in Calgary’s public school boards prompted the decision to speed up construction of the previously approved projects.
“These projects will have an important impact for students and families in the community. This will mean a reduction of transit and bus times as we build schools closer to home, students will be able to walk to their designated schools and enjoy their school as a center and a hub for their community,” Nicolaides said.
“There’s a lot of work ahead, but we’re confident that our commitment to building schools as quickly as possible will help us keep up with the unprecedented student enrollment.”
Patricia Bolger, chair of the CBE’s Board of Trustees, thanked the Alberta government for addressing the need for new learning spaces in Calgary, especially when the city continues to grow.
As of Sept. 30, 2024, around 142,402 students were enrolled in the CBE, a three-percent increase since Sept. 30, 2023.
Around 171 schools were over 85 percent utilized as of September 2024, an increase of 17 schools since September 2023.
“Our system utilization rate is still projected to be 97 per cent in 2028 so while the ongoing school announcements are very much appreciated, we still need more to address the space crunch,” Bolger said at Saturday’s news conference.
