When school is back in session this fall, Calgary’s public schools will have more students, more teachers, more classrooms and higher bus fees for some.
When the morning bell rings on Monday, August 31 for the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD), nearly 2,000 new students, hundreds of new teachers, tens of new classrooms and one new school will begin the 2026-27 school year.
As of now, 2026-26 projections from CBE, 143,475 total students, and CCSD, 64,876 total students, account for 1,754 more students than 2025-26.
According to a CBE-issued statement, the board has hired over hundreds of teachers to teach these new learners.
“Through the province’s investments in classroom complexity and class size, the CBE has hired more than 400 teachers and more than 215 education assistants this spring,” the statement reads.
“Funded positions will continue to be hired throughout the summer and into the fall.”
Similarly, the CCSD’s projected total of 5,369 instructional staff is nearly 640 more educators than last year’s totals.
To accommodate more teachers and students, the CBE will be opening the Evanston Heights School for Grades 4-8 and installing 46 new modular classrooms across 10 CBE schools. Said classrooms will create over 1,100 new learning spaces, according to the statement.
Evanston Heights will expand to Grade 9 in 2027-28.
For 2026-27, CBE bus fees are rising from $360 last year to $500. School fees are determined individually by each school, according to the board.
Calgary Catholic to name new leadership
Though there are no new schools projected to open for Calgary’s Catholic students or increasing fees for their transportation, come September, the Calgary Catholic School District will have a new Chief Superintendent.
Following the retirement of current Chief Superintendent Dr. Bryan Szumlas a new candidate will be selected, though no official announcement of his replacement has been made.
Every year, the Calgary Catholic Education Foundation (CCEF) supports things like new playgrounds through charitable work, according to the district.
Janet Lymer, the organization’s executive director, said that CCEF is actively working on a charity golf tournament and backpack drives for students in need, among other initiatives.
“We do feel that we make an impact. This past year, we awarded $100,000 in grants to the schools to help offset deficits in their budgets,” Lymer said.
“We have helped build three playgrounds, averaging $325,000 each, the third of which is being built this summer at St. Stephen School and we have 12 more playgrounds coming on board (across Calgary).”
Though she couldn’t share exact goals for the coming school year, Lymer said that CCEF is hoping to raise over $1 million for catholic education in 2026-27.
