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calgary students could attend class in rec centres, office buildings as overcrowding continues
'we recognize the growth we’re experiencing is by far outpacing what we are able to add in terms of space'
jun 11 2024
4 minute read
the brookfield ymca in seton, calgary on tuesday, june 11, 2024.
brent calver/postmedia
public school officials are looking to lease space in suburban rec centres to address years of overcrowding and record-breaking growth — especially at the high school level.
after welcoming more than 13,000 new students in the past two years, and expecting another 9,000 to arrive next year, the calgary board of education is in negotiations with brookfield residential ymca at seton in hopes of securing two multi-purpose classrooms for next fall.
“we recognize the growth we’re experiencing is by far outpacing what we are able to add in terms of space,” said dany breton, cbe superintendent of facilities.
“we are exploring what other spaces might be available that are in non-traditional school spaces — and we’re working on a situation in seton right now where we may be able to potentially add two classrooms.
“we are currently in discussion to add those spaces.”
breton said the new j oane cardinal-schubert high school , which opened in seton in 2018, is overcapacity and is overflowing students to other high schools such as lord beaverbrook and centennial, much further away.
“this school opened very recently, only a few years ago, and immediately went into an overflow situation because of how rapidly the communities around it are growing.”
joane cardinal-schubert high school in south calgary is pictured on thursday, dec. 14, 2023.
darren makowichuk
/
postmedia
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breton said the seton ymca might be a good fit because it is only a short walk across a parking lot from jcs high.
he estimated the two available multi-purpose rooms would fit 30 to 40 students, allowing the school to rotate multiple classes into the spaces.
“it means for that high school, there could be additional spaces. and students using that space, they just have to cross the parking lot, attend that class and return.
“and then as they’re returning, another group can be crossing to attend that same location.”
rec centres already zoned for schools
breton added that because a public recreation centre like seton is already zoned “msr” or “municipal and school reserve,” it would be easy for cbe to designate it a school space.
at the same time, breton said other rec centres close to schools, such as the genesis centre adjacent to the overflowing nelson mandela high school in the northeast, could also come into play.
“any instance where we have a school close to another facility that is conducive to that kind of activity, then we will be looking at that,” breton said.
“what is beautiful about these rec centres is that they are already placed on msr land.”
the calgary board of education is exploring the idea of using vacant space for over-populated schools at the genesis centre and seton y in calgary. photo taken on tuesday, june 11, 2024.
darren makowichuk/postmedia
for more central locations such as western canada high school , the cbe could consider vacant downtown office space, although that would require a rezoning, breton said.
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during the 2022-23 school year, overcapacity at the connaught school had students attending temporary classes at the cbe’s adjacent downtown headquarters.
cbe’s downtown offices include multipurpose rooms at an old, refurbished sandstone school — dr. carl safran centre — which had connaught’s k-6 students attend temporarily.
“we’re in a situation now where we have found overflow spaces for those students, so that is no longer required,” breton said.
“but we will continue to be open to these kinds of solutions when the situation demands it.”
creative solutions helpful, but advocate cautions against ‘new norm’
breton said a large part of cbe’s space crunch is a result of families moving here from other parts of the country and around the world, pushing the system’s overall utilization rate to 93 per cent this year, with expectations of spilling over 100 per cent next year.
“we are welcoming these students with open arms. but we also have to live with the consequences,” breton said.
medeana moussa, spokeswoman for the support our students advocacy group, said it’s good to see cbe finding creative solutions to the excessive growth the system is facing.
“as an interim solution, this could relieve a little pressure, with just a few bumps for students.
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“but we’ve already seen so many interim solutions just become something we are forced to accept as the new norm.”
moussa said when modular classrooms and portables were originally added, they were supposed to be temporary.
“now we have a government that won’t even fund modular classrooms when school districts desperately need them.”
medeana moussa, executive director of support our students alberta.
azin ghaffari
/
postmedia
she added that school lotteries and overflow schools, where students living in the same community as their school could be diverted elsewhere, has also become a new norm.
“and the fact that we are at utilization rates of 100 to 125 per cent, which do not even take into account the use of common spaces like gyms and libraries for class space, has also become a new norm.”
ucp says it is investing in education
alberta education did not address cbe’s need to lease space when asked, saying only that alberta is welcoming people in record numbers and that the ucp is investing in education to accommodate growth.
“over the next three years, we have planned to invest more than $1.2 billion to address classroom complexity, which will go directly to hiring 3,000 more teachers and other educational staff,” said education minister demetrios nicolaides.
“the calgary board of education is funded to the tune of nearly $1.4 billion which includes more than $85 million in new funding this year alone.”
he added that 18 new schools are “on their way,” although the cbe received full construction funding for only one new school in this spring’s budget, a k-4 school in evanston .
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