By April 1st of each calendar year, all school divisions in Alberta are required to submit their proposed list of capital requests, in order of priority.  

At their recent meeting, the Board of Trustees of Rocky View Schools did just that by approving the 2021-2023 Capital Plan Priorities and directed administration to submit that list to Alberta Education in Edmonton.  

The top three priorities for the 2021 budget year include two schools for Cochrane and one for Airdrie, the two places that Board Chair Fiona Gilbert says are the main pressure points for student growth in RVS.

"Absolutely,  Those are definitely two of our fastest-growing communities and where we need schools the most, for sure."

Priority one in the division is a 700 student addition for Bow Valley High School in Cochrane.  Gilbert explains that the school is already well used and will likely fall into the over-capacity category very soon.  "The projected numbers for September I think are 98 or 99 percent capacity and that is very, very high.  I think you've heard us talk about 85 to 90 percent is really when the school is being used to the best of its capacity.  Once you get into those 90's it gets really, really crowded where kids are using every single space in the building, all of the time."

Priority two is a K to Grade 9 school for Airdrie to be built in the community of South Windsong.  Since Airdrie is the fastest growing community that RVS serves, and the fact the division has a site ready for the new construction when it occurs, made it a top priority.  "The site is existing," says Gilbert.  "it's shovel ready and we need elementary/middle schools in Airdrie, there's big pressure on the schools there.  This is an existing site and we need to put shovels in the ground so we've got a school in the next two to three years depending on how long it takes to build the school."

Priority number three is for a new K to Grade 5 school in Cochrane.  The site in the community is expected to be ready sometime in 2020.

Despite the tremendous needs in one of the fastest-growing school divisions in the province, schools have proven hard to come by for the past several years with only the Langdon Junior/Senior High School being approved last November.  With Alberta in the midst of an economic crisis because of COVID-19 and the crash of energy prices caused by the oil war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, it is debatable whether the schools needed in Rocky View and elsewhere in the province would get the government's approval.  But the side of the debate Gilbert is on is the one that says Albertans need to get back to work, and capital projects will be a way to get them there.

"I do know that this government is committed to getting Albertans back to work, and what better project is there than building capital infrastructure within our province," Gilbert asks?  "So to get Alberta back to work and to get these construction projects approved and on the go as quickly as possible, I am hopeful the government will see this as a good opportunity and a good investment into schools and into education but also as a good capital project for getting Albertans back to work."

There are 13 priorities on RVS' list for the next three school years.  They include two more schools for Airdrie for the 2022 budget year and one in the 2023 year.  Three schools are also on the wish list for Chestermere, one for Springbank, a school in Langdon, one in Crossfield and one more school in Cochrane.