Lory Iovinelli, Board Chair of the Calgary Catholic School District Board of Trustees, said that the district\u2019s focus has been equitable funding, capital projects to meet enrolment growth, and meaningful supports for increasingly complex classrooms, things that Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides is noticing and helping to solve.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn investment in education is the best investment a government can make,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The new schools are all in the planning stage. Of the 14, nine will be Calgary Board of Education (CBE) schools, three will be CCSD schools, one will be Conseil scolaire FrancoSud and one Alberta Classical Academy.<\/p>\n
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CBE Board Chair Laura Hack said that most of the newly announced projects are planned for the outskirts of Calgary, where students currently are, but schools aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose kids are being bused to a school in a neighbouring community, or if that one is full, bus further away,\u201d she said, adding that many students bus upwards of 10 km to and from school.<\/p>\n
According to a government-issued release, these projects will create or renovate more than 12,300 student spaces, and with a total of 40 new projects funded in Budget 2026, there are now 161 active school projects underway across the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese projects will help ensure that every child has a space to engage and thrive in Alberta\u2019s education system,\u201d the release reads.<\/p>\n
Though Alberta immigration, and therefore enrolment, has slowed down since the historic booms of 2023 and 2024, Nicolaides said many schools face crowded classrooms and learning areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years ago was a very unique and unprecedented year; we saw the largest increase as a province in total population in our history ever, really not reflective of normal years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are forecasting currently about a 1.6 per cent enrollment increase for the upcoming school year. So appears as though things may be tapering off, but we still have a lot of capacity issues, as we heard from (the CBE and CCSD), and we\u2019ll continue to look at the forecast that our school divisions provide, and the overall utilization rate to help determine where we need to put more schools,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Despite varying, and in some cases unknown, timelines for opening, Nicolaides said that the 40-plus school projects will help with enrolment pressures, without a doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It) always takes a few years from when the project is announced until it can be completed, so projects that have been announced in 2018, 2020 and subsequent years are opening and coming online, as are other projects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re responding very quickly to the population increase that we\u2019ve seen beginning in 2023 by launching the Schools Now<\/a> program in 2024 with an ambitious plan to build and modernize over 130 schools and that process is well underway and those schools are coming online as quickly as possible<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of the extensive planning and preparation process, it is unlikely any newly announced builds leapfrog any pre-planned schools families are anticipating, the Education Minister said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to make today\u2019s announcement, and I\u2019m confident it will meet (Albertans\u2019) expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n Liked it? Take a second to support Kaiden Brayshaw – Local Journalism Initiative on Patreon!<\/p>\n
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