Langdon school not priority in 2018 provincial budget

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Rocky View Schools (RVS) felt crestfallen after the Alberta government’s announcement on March 23, that despite doling out over $390 million earmarked to upgrade and build 20 schools, the division’s greatest priority – a school in Langdon – was left off the provincial list.
With the release of the 2018 budget, the government is allocating $393 million to build seven new schools – three of which are in Calgary – and replace or modernize 17 additional Alberta schools expected to be completed for the 2022-2023 school year.
Absent on the list is a primary concern and long-time anticipated high school for the Langdon area, which currently is home to one elementary school and one middle school. With an annual growth of 1,000 students across RVS schools and an increase of 250 students annually in just the southeast sector that includes the communities of Chestermere-Langdon, students are required to attend facilities in Chestermere – adding to the already swelling space crunch and higher facility utilization. Currently 22 per cent of the school board’s students are located in the area.
“We find it hard to believe that the fastest growing school division in Alberta and three of the fastest growing community areas in all of Canada would be left off of the capital plan,” said Todd Brand, board chair for RVS.
“We are very concerned with not getting this announcement that we are going to have some very serious classroom space issues. Well, we already have them and they’re going to become much worse.”
Continuing at this rate, the board estimates an additional two to three schools are required every year to meet the demand.
The Hamlet of Langdon and the City of Chestermere are expected to reach 100 per cent capacity by 2020. Back in 2005 RVS and the County of Rocky View partnered to purchase land to house what is referred to as a community-hub-type-school facility in the future.
Over the past few years, accompanied by attendance pressures, the Langdon high school vision, which has a $30 million price tag attached, slowly climbed up the list of priorities until it was deemed the number one priority on the division’s capital plan last year.
School jurisdictions are required to submit three-year capital plans to outline their capital needs to Alberta Education each year. Such plans contribute to the development of the provincial capital plan.
With the support from Alberta Infrastructure, the department prepares a list of priority projects at the highest level. The priorities are identified by school boards in their three-year capital plans and prioritized based on factors that include building condition, health and safety, utilization rates, enrolment projections, education program delivery and impact, site readiness, and infrastructure performance.
“Our government is playing catch up after years of neglect and inaction by the previous government,” said Minister of Education David Eggen. “During the worst downturn in decades, we chose to respond by putting Albertans back to work. We’re building new schools for our students and I won’t apologize for that. Our government provided funding for seven projects for Rocky View Schools – with many of them open to students right now.
“Our government knows that there is a need for more schools across the province because the previous government chose to ignore this need for far too long. We are currently leading the largest school build in Alberta’s history. We are putting our kids first. We know that building new schools is an important investment in the future of our province and that is why we continue to build.”
RVS is now faced with other options that include the addition of more modulars and continuing to accommodate Langdon students in its existing schools. While funds for a Langdon high school would’ve alleviated some pressure on schools in Chestermere, Chestermere schools are expected to soar to 107 per cent capacity by 2020.
Brand said the division has already contacted the provincial government to inquire about further announcements. For now they will continue to advocate for the government’s financial support and push for solutions to their space shortage.
“We recognize that this is a challenging time for our provincial government, they have a lot of financial pressures that they need to deal with,” said Brand. “We feel our job is to make sure that our needs are adequately conveyed to them and in this case we really feel that we need to continue to advocate and push. We’re hoping to hear good news in the future.”