One of the biggest disappointments of Budget 2021 has been the provincial government's failure to provide capital funding to support schools in Cochrane.
Cochrane has been a community that has exponentially grown over the past two decades, and by 2070 the population of Cochrane and its surrounding communities is expected to double.
This growth is creating a crunch in resources and the need for additional support is being especially felt by Cochrane students.
Rocky View Schools is one of the fastest-growing school districts in Alberta. The school board has continuously submitted capital projects reflecting the pressing need for the provincial government to help the district navigate its explosive growth.
Over the past five years Rocky View Schools superintendent Greg Luterbach said student growth in the Cochrane region has been increasing between five to six per cent annually.
The 2019-20 school year saw the highest growth rate to date and this trend is expected to continue.
In April 2020 Rocky View Schools adjusted the attendance boundaries of four schools in Cochrane in anticipation of growing school populations— A major factor in these changes was adjusting enrolment at Cochrane High School and Bow Valley High School.
This makes the failure of Budget 2021 to provide capital funding for a Bow Valley High School expansion all the more disappointing and shocking.
Expanding Bow Valley High School has been a major priority for Rocky View Schools for several years.
Bow Valley High School is at a critical point in its history. The school currently sits at 101 per cent capacity and is expected to be at 125 per cent capacity in four years.
Rocky View Schools board chair Fiona Gilbert said there is a pressing need to expand the school to meet the needs of students and their families.
“Bow Valley High was built about 20 years ago, and at that time it was built only as half a school. We knew at that point that we would need further development there,” she said. “It’s been at the top of our capital plan as our top priority for two or three years now.”
Provincial support for the project will be critical and students can no longer wait for their school to expand.
Rocky View Schools and Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie have vowed to continue the fight to receive funding from the province for Bow Valley High Schools expansion, and we can only hope these pleas will not be met by deaf ears.
All is not lost for Bow Valley High School and other schools experiencing a population growth crisis.
Budget 2021 has committed $90 million in investments to develop modular learning spaces in 2021 and $140 million in funding over the next three years.
While modular learning is not the ideal solution to solve spacing issues, it will serve as a short-term option to address the dire need for classroom space.
Rocky View Schools students face an uncertain path forward after Budget 2021 and it is the responsibility of the community and province to ensure the needs of our young people are being met.
