Cochrane might not be seeing any new schools for awhile. A kindergarten to Grade 5 school, designated for the Heartland community, was bumped down on the priority list after a fall revision of Rocky View Schools’ (RVS) three-year capital plan. It previously sat at number five on the board’s priority list but was bumped into sixth place, with an Airdrie school climbing up to priority two. That means the new Heartland school won’t be approved for funding until at least 2020. But Todd Brand, chair of the RVS Board of Trustees, said any project that isn’t No. 1 on the list isn’t set in stone, and that projects, depending on their site readiness and price tag, could easily go up or down. “Those rankings (beyond third) are really not that significant. They are just a spread out view of what we think is going to be happening in the upcoming years,” Brand said. Todd said during the midway point of capital plan cycle, there’s often only the chance for one site at most to be approved. Last year, RVS had zero sites approved for funding by the province. The realignment of next spring’s capital plan will be more critical, he said. Cochrane needs a new school every two to three years to stay on pace with its growing number of students. The district estimates there are 1,000 new students each year in RVS, and new Cochrane students account for over 200 of those. Between 2015 to 2020, RVS estimated there are expected to be 1,200 new students between Cochrane and Bearspaw; Airdrie expects 2,600 new students and; Chestemere and Langdon would see 1,100 new students. Items in the top four of the current priority list include a new Langdon jr/sr high school, two K-9 Airdrie schools and an expansion of Bow Valley High School which will double the school’s capacity. Another K-9 Cochrane school is listed in eighth position. RVS said the site planned for the school was missing criteria required by Alberta Education for funding approval, including the site not being leveled, it has no utilities yet and is not regirsted to RVS. RVS anticipates reaching 100 per cent capacity in its schools across the division within three years, which Brand said is an overuse of the schools, it’s ideal to sit at 80 per cent. “I think that is what really has our planners very concerned at this particular time,” said Brand. “We’ve got three major pinch points between Chestermere, Airdrie and Cochrane. At any given year those are what we call our most critical communities. Presently, Brand said Chestemere is in crisis and that the board is running out of solutions that don’t involve a school being built. “Cochrane has a lot of issues as well,” Brand said. Ideally, the RVS would need to open two new schools each year to stay on track of growth within the entire district. “We’re already crowded. If we open two every year that’s just going to maintain where we’re currently at. Anything less than that we’re going to see a significant increase to the overcrowding we’re already experiencing,” Brand said. “I’m hoping next spring we’ll get the announcement for two or three new schools – we desperately need them.”
