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Wolf Creek Public Schools Supt. Jayson Lovell is thrilled that a new high school has finally been announced for Blackfalds.
long-awaited

New schools coming to Red Deer and Blackfalds

Nov 1, 2019 | 1:30 PM

Red Deer and Blackfalds should be getting new schools in the not too distant future.

The Government of Alberta announced Friday that it is providing $397 million for 25 school projects in Budget 2019. That includes “design funding” for a 9-12 high school for Wolf Creek Public Schools in Blackfalds, and a 6-9 middle school for Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools in Red Deer.

A Ministry of Infrastructure spokesperson says the designated funding is for design, while future budgets will carry actual construction dollars. Estimated time needed for design can be over a year for a high school.

Wolf Creek Public Schools Superintendent Jayson Lovell says Blackfalds should be very excited to finally have its own high school on the horizon.

“This was the number one priority for us. With a brand new high school, we can engage our town and the residents of Blackfalds to ensure the programs and what we’re offering in our high school will meet the needs of the community,” he says.

“We’ve been working very closely with Alberta Education on this project for quite some time. We have a very rapidly growing population in Blackfalds, so to add a high school, it’s a great day.”

Lovell says the division acquired a site for the school from the Town of Blackfalds a number of years ago. It is adjacent to the current Iron Ridge junior campus on the town’s west side.

Currently, public school students in Blackfalds head to Lacombe Composite for their senior years. Utilization at the school is approximately 88 per cent with Lovell saying it’s projected to reach 95 per cent in the next few years, but would decrease with a new high school in Blackfalds.

Meantime, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Board Chair Anne Marie Watson says they very badly need a new middle school.

“This is our greatest need across the entire division. All of our middle schools are well over capacity. If you look at the four middle schools in Red Deer, the average utilization rate is 119 per cent,” she says. “When you take out Camille, which is only French, and St. Patrick’s which is year-round, we have St. Thomas and St. Francis at 122 and 137 per cent.”

Those schools have very full classrooms, and classes are being held in libraries and other non-classroom spaces, including portables, which aren’t ideal, she adds.

A site for the new middle school has not been determined.

Red Deer Catholic’s next priority is a middle school in Blackfalds to ease the population at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, which in three years is already over capacity. Watson noted the division targeted a 75 per cent utilization rate at opening, but wound up at 95 per cent before the doors even opened.

Chinook’s Edge School Division is also to receive funding for an addition to its elementary school in Carstairs to add 10 new classroom spaces.

Red Deer Public Schools was left out of Friday’s funding announcements.

“We are disappointed that our needs will not be met in the provincial government’s Budget 2019 capital plan,” said Superintendent Stu Henry.

The division’s top capital priorities include the replacement of the roof at Hunting Hills, as well as the modernization of its mechanical and electrical systems. The division is in need of a new grade 6-8 school in the Timber Ridge area.

“We made a promise to Albertans that our government will continue to build new schools, and we are doing exactly that,” said Education Minister Adriana LaGrange. “Through our significant investment in new schools, replacements, modernizations and infrastructure upkeep, our children will continue to learn in up-to-date and safe spaces. This will result in better success in our classrooms. The future is bright for Alberta students.”

The NDP Opposition claims the UCP’s school funding announcements mean classrooms will open with more students and fewer teachers. They say Budget 2019 does not provide any extra funding for 60,000 new students arriving in schools over the next four years.