A month ago, the Rocky View Schools Board of Trustees approved a motion to request that the provincial government fund a possible move of 10 modular classrooms within the county. Two of those modular classrooms were meant to go to Airdrie, while another two were meant to go to Cochrane to address the ongoing issue of space to accommodate the student population. 

On Thursday, the Board of Trustees was told that the request was denied. 

“We did receive a response from the minister that stated the 2022 budget from the province does not include any funding for new projects relating to modular classrooms and therefore she would not be able to approve the funding portion of the $1.6 million,” said Board Chair Fiona Gilbert. “She has given us permission to use our own dollars.” 

While there was approval for the actual move, RVS will be paying for it. 

“There is also communication from the government that there will not be any modular approvals for this year, which is extremely disappointing and very concerning for Rocky schools and our students and our communities as we continue to experience extensive growth in urban settings.” 

According to Gilbert, in November of last year, RVS had requests for 18 new modular classrooms. 

Last month, Colette Winter, the Director of Operations at RVS, said that there are 30,000 students spaces within RVS. 

“We're sitting at 87 per cent utilization for Rocky schools,” she said. “In 2026, we're expected to be at over 100 per cent utilized.” 

During Thursday’s regular Board Meeting, Finance Director Steve Thomas shared an update with regards to RVS’s funding profile allocated by the provincial government. 

“Our overall funding was set at $244.1 million compared to $236.8 million for the current year that we're in. That represented an overall increase of $7.3 million,” Thomas said.  

The funding profile informs RVS of how they will allocate money in the upcoming budget.