Calgary’s public school board is calling on the provincial government to approve more modular classrooms amid capacity concerns.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) announced during a Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 6 that it has asked the Alberta Government for 26 new modular units to increase capacity at six schools, plus four replacements and three demolitions for the 2027-28 school year. 

New modular classroom locations were decided using five-year enrolment data, which identified several overflow schools as eligible for the units. For replacements and demolitions, the proposal considered infrastructure age and quality. 

Next year’s ask is down from the 46 modular classrooms the province approved in March for the current school year, as the school board has seen a slight dip in enrolment over the past two years. 

Still, the CBE received nearly half of what it asked for last year, after requesting 64 modular classrooms. The recent decrease in enrolment followed the board experiencing “exceptional enrolment growth” between September 2021 and 2024, as described in the document. 

The data also named 10 schools as especially over capacity, in addition to 103 schools that were projected to exceed a 90 per cent utilization rate over the next three years. 

With 25 new schools, replacements, or additions currently in the planning or construction phase, the CBE said it will rely on modular classrooms in the meantime, since this will take several years. 

Trustees question the grand scheme effectiveness of modulars

Wards 8 and 9 trustee Susan Vukadinovic questioned why overflow receiver schools, like MacKenzie Lake School, MacKenzie Highlands School, MacKenzie Towne School, and John A. Macdonald School, are slated to have modulars installed instead of the feeder schools. 

Dany Breton, superintendent of facilities and environmental services, explained that the overflowing schools in question cannot have modulars installed because of “site constraints,” such as units already on the property or parcel sizes that don’t accommodate another structure. 

Wards 5 and 10 trustee Cynthia Cordova asked why modular classrooms are still being prioritized as a short-term solution to a long-term capacity problem, citing the rotation of overflow and where it fits in the capital plan. 

Breton answered Cordova, saying the board has innovated how it maximizes its space, like renting rooms out of nearby recreation centres and applying for more new schools. 

Having just visited an overflow school the other day, chief superintendent Joanne Pitman said that there is a trend across the CBE where both the overflowing and overflow receiver schools are at capacity.

“That means a great deal of transitions,” she said. 

“We’re always seeking to reduce those as much as we can with the schools we have.”

Pitman said the goal is for students to attend the school closest to their home address, and that even though modulars aren’t a long-term solution, they are a proactive way to get there while the board awaits the construction of new schools. 

Keeping up with a sprawling city

During the same meeting, Catherine Ford, director of planning, and Trevor Fenton, director of facility projects, presented a report concerning the city’s growth and how it has impacted the board’s new school planning process.

Ford said 69 per cent of the city’s housing development in the past five years occurred in new communities, and the city forecasts that almost 50,000 homes will be built by 2029. As more families move in, she said that the demand for schools will increase. 

Superintendent Breton emphasized that the city’s population surge has already strained existing schools, and that the time it takes to build a school furthers the cycle. 

“The reason, fundamentally, that we’re in this situation where we’re trying to support students in areas of the city that have developed so rapidly, is due to the way construction has happened over the last decade,” he said. 

“It’s a feast and famine kind of approach.”

Using the northeast as an example, Ford said the surge in residents in 2024 led the CBE to request an amendment to the three-year school capital plan to increase Cornerstone High School’s capacity from 1,800 to 2,400. 

While this and obtaining modular classrooms are viable solutions to meet demand in established neighbourhoods, Ford said they are not sustainable long term, and the CBE is currently reviewing its criteria for planning future schools. 

“If there are big changes upward, we need to increase the size of our schools,” she said. 

“We won’t be given more sites.”

These recommendations include working with the city and developers to fast-track more site-ready schools, while reviewing population changes throughout the planning stage. Overall, Ford stressed planning ahead of the sprawling city and setting capacity’s accordingly.