Enrolment in the nine Cochrane schools of Rocky View Schools (RVS) continues to grow at an accelerated rate. On average, schools are at 95 per cent utilization with more than half of them exceeding 100 per cent.

As of Sept. 24, 254 more students were enrolled in Cochrane public schools, an increase of 4.5 per cent. 

RVS Board of Trustees chair Fiona Gilbert says it closely matches the projections the division had coming into the school year. Growth appears to have taken place across all grade levels, but the division will have a more exact understanding of the numbers when they are reviewed at their Oct. 5 meeting.

The need for more Cochrane schools remains one of the priorities in a division that is seeing rapid growth in all of its other major centres, including Airdrie and Chestermere. Last March, Alberta Education listed one new Cochrane school at the pre-planning level in a new approach to allocating new school funding.

Gilbert says the division continues to seek a greater understanding of what exactly the allocation of pre-planning and planning dollars means. She says the division received about $70,000 for the pre-planning stage.

"To be honest, $70,000 does not do an awful lot these days with pre-planning for school sites, so those are questions we continue to ask Alberta Infrastructure on what's the checklist to get to the next stage. We still have not had a clear answer on that, so we continue to ask questions as to what that means, how we move from pre-planning to the planning stage, and then hopefully to design."

She says RVS believes they have a school site shovel-ready in Rivercrest, but hasn't received a checklist to see if it aligns with Alberta Infrastructure's definition.  

"We're still trying to find some clarity as to whether or not Alberta Infrastructure would agree that this site is shovel-ready. There are still lots of questions surrounding the new gated process announced as part of Budget 2023."

Being able to reacquire the Powell St. school for the Cochrane Christian Academy has relieved some of the pressure being placed on local schools.

"The renovation that was undertaken went extremely well and the school looks fabulous on the inside. The learning spaces are bright and welcoming. There are around 360-365 students at the school and it's been absolutely vital to have."

She says local schools have been adjusting their operations to manage larger populations. Measures such as alternating recess and lunch times have been instituted.

Gilbert has attended several school council meetings over the last few weeks to meet with parents, and major concerns over adjusting to larger class sizes haven't been brought to her attention.

"We have to remember that, yes, our schools are full, some of them are a little bit more than full, but our teachers and our school staff are working hard every single day to ensure that kids are having great learning opportunities and great learning experiences when they are at school."

September 30 enrolment numbers continue to be an important measurement of what to expect for the year and the level of funding provided by Alberta Education. 

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