Rocky View Schools (RVS) is once again faced with telling staff, students, and parents of a school opening delay.

Fireside School which was expected to open its doors for the start of the 2017/18 school year will now not open until November 14.

Greg Luterbach, RVS Superintendent, says he knows the news will be disappointing to many.

"I don't think it's going to be a huge surprise to many people that have driven by the school site under construction; between a cold winter, significantly long cold snaps, high winds, and a number of other issues the building isn't going to be ready in time for us to have kids safely in it for the first day of September."

RancheView School faced a similar situation this past fall but was able to open earlier than expected. In the case of Fireside, based on conversations with Alberta Infrastructure (the Ministry agency helping with the build) the November long weekend is the only real opportunity to accommodate the move.

"November 13 is a Professional Learning Day and so like RancheView we will use that as our main moving day for staff to get in there and get classrooms set up, and so we are looking to move in students on Tuesday, November 14. If all the stars align and the building is done earlier we will have to revisit that but based on what they're telling us right now, that is the day we are shooting for."

Luterbach, is hopeful lessons learned from the RancheView delay, will result in an easier transition this go around. "The biggest challenge is some of our youngsters who are currently at Glenbow will need to move from there to the Mitford/CCA portables for about a ten week stint. Transportation, after school/before school care are already things we are working out and we think we have those things well in hand."

While the RVS board is currently discussing transportation fees for the entire division, no transportation fees will be charged to families attending the temporary site during the ten week period. Once moved, transportation fees will be reintroduced based on new legislation. Before school/ after school care will also be covered during the period and school start and end times will not be affected.

As far as financial compensation, Luterbach, says he is unaware of RVS receiving any grant monies for RancheView's delay and is not expecting any this go around either.

"We will incur some costs as a result of not being open at the same time and we're just going to have to factor out and find a way to pay for those. Ultimately we can have conversation with government but we appreciate we are getting a school and at the end of the day we're going to do what's right for kids to make sure they're going to have the best year that is possible."

Luterbach is also thankful for Mitford and CCA support as the extra students place challenges on them as well. During the transitional period the population of the Mitford site will come in at 950 students which will have RVS seeking additional community gym space. With Fireside students being housed in 14 stand alone portables, it will allow them to still build their own school community.

More information will be released as planning details are finalized but if parents have any concerns in the interim they are asked to call Manny Ferreirinha, RVS Area Director, at 403-945-4023.