Alberta to build 15 new schools, including 4 in Calgary area

Calgary and area will get four new schools including a long-awaited one in the northeast community ofCoventry Hills, the Alberta government said Friday as it unveiled 25 new education projects throughout the province.

The capital plan in theUnited Conservative Partygovernment's2019 budget, unveiled last week, supports building 15 new schools in Alberta, replacing six and modernizing four,Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said at a press conference in Calgary on Friday.

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In total, the government announced seven new schools in the southern half of the province, with the Calgary area also getting new elementary and middle schools in southeast Auburn Bayand a Catholic elementary/junior high school in Cochrane.

"This exciting project is part of our government's $397 million investment over five years to build new school projects across Alberta,"LaGrange said.

'Elated' to get high school in Coventry Hills

News of funding to build a new high school at 12065 Coventry Hills Way N.E. in Calgary was greeted with delight in Ward 3, where residents have been saying for more than a decade that it was desperately needed.

A group calledAdvocates for North Calgary High School has held repeated rallies, pointing out that students in the communities ofCoventry Hills,Harvest Hills and Panorama Hills have to commute 60 blocks to get children to the nearest school.

David Hartwick, a steering committee member of the group and rally organizer, has pointed out that Ward 3 hadgrown to 71,000 people with no public high school.

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"I started advocating for North Calgary High when Corvyn was sevenand Denika was four," Hartwick wrote Friday on his Facebook page of his children, who are now adults.

"Elated it was approved today.#achievementclub"

'This is a momentous day for our communities'

Ward 3 Coun.Jyoti Gondekwas similarly jubilant.

"For over a decade, residents of north-central Calgary (including me) have been sounding the alarm that our communities are in desperate need of a public high school," Gondek posted on Facebook.

"For all that time, we watched as infrastructure needs of other communities were met while it appeared that we were not on anyone's radar. In the last two years, increasing pressure from the community resulted in design phase approval but we still lacked the capital to actually build a school. Today finallythe provincial government has announced capital for the construction of the North Calgary High School.

"This is a momentous day for our communities."

Rajan Sawhney, who was elected MLA for theCalgary-North East riding in the spring and is now Alberta's community and social services minister,said she was proud the funding was included in the UCP's first budget.

"This was one of my first and most important motivations for why I wanted to represent Calgary-North East at the legislature," Sawhney said in a release.

When asked about the expected date for the high school to be built, the province said only that it would vary on a school-by-school basis.

Other new schools

The full listfor southern Alberta includes:

• Auburn Bay in Calgary will receive a new elementary school (K-4).
• Auburn Bay in Calgary will receive a new middle school (5-9).
• North of Calgary will receive a new high school (10-12).
• Langdon will receive a new junior/senior high school (7-12).
• Morrinwill receive a Catholic school replacement.
• Cochrane will receive a new Catholic elementary/junior high school (K-9).
• Red Deer will receive a new Catholic middle school (6-9).

The government also pointed out its budget included$1.4 billion to continue work on previously announced school projects across Albertaover the next four years.

This includes $123 million for 250 new modular classrooms to address the most urgent needs for additional space across the province.

The government said more than 60 projects are underway in the province and 27 are expected to be open for the 2020-21 school year.

"We made a promise to Albertans that our government will continue to build new schools, and we are doing exactly that," LaGrange said in a news release.

"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."

Education cuts

However, the UCP has faced criticism on several fronts when it comes to education.

Last week's budget freezes education funding for the next four years, resulting in a de facto cut.

The government also reallocated grants, including one to help maintain smaller class sizes for students from kindergarten to Grade 3.

Teachers are also bracing for cuts after the government said it will seek public sector wage rollbacks heading into arbitration.

Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, said that comes after seven years of only one wage hike.

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The cuts to advanced education are more pronounced.

UCP's budgetintroduced a five per cent funding cut in the sector, although not uniform across institutions. The government saidit would enda five-year freeze on tuition, with increases limited to an annual maximum of seven per cent a year or 21 per cent over three years.

Students will also pay more for their student loans. Interest is currently set at prime but the government is changing the rate to prime plus one per cent.The province is also ending education and tuition tax credits in the 2020 tax year.

Post-secondary institutions will also have their operating grants cut by up to 7.9 per cent. The amounts will be based on each institution's financial capacity and will be revealed later Thursday.