Brand New School Already Bursting at the Seams

The long awaited East Lake School opened its doors at the start of this school year, providing some equally long awaited relief to Prairie Waters Elementary, which had been over capacity for the past couple years. However, perhaps a little too many students were placed into the brand new school, as it now is so full that students find themselves holding class in the learning commons/library while Prairie Waters Elementary is now sitting at only 70% utilization.
In a school council meeting held earlier in September, it became very clear that parents were not happy with the overcrowding situation. 78 students split into classes being taught in the learning commons/library, one class that is a split of grades 3,4,5,6 – obviously a large gap in age and curriculum. One of the parents at the meeting was Wildrose MLA for Chestermere – Rockyview, Bruce McAllister and says that, “it is extremely disappointing to see the low priority that this is being given by the province”. McAllister goes on to say “Chestermere should be top priority with portables or modulars being brought in immediately. I feel for all the parents involved and for the staff at the school as they are doing the best they can with what they’ve been given. But the provincial government should receive a failing grade on this from the public”.
Other parents with children in the overstuffed East Lake School, echoed MLA McAllister’s words saying that the administration and teaching staff at the school are doing an amazing job keeping the kids on track and operating in a business as usual fashion despite the close quarters that they are forced to learn in.
Bev LaPeare, Ward 2 Trustee with Rockyview Schools, says that she recognizes the overcrowding problem in Rockyview schools and especially Chestermere. When asked if it was possible the boundaries for the new school…deciding which schools children attend, were possibly unbalanced, it was explained that “no, the boundaries are correct and even though Prairie Waters is currently sitting at only 70% capacity, we have left that breathing room for the potential growth in that area.”
LaPeare goes on to explain, “Before East Lake School opened, they were only at 96% capacity and that is why the province turned down the application that had been submitted for 4 portables at that school. Now that the school is over 100% utilization, another request for portables will be submitted in October where we will be asking the province for 6-8 portables for East Lake School. Once we submit that application to the province, it will usually take a few weeks before we receive a response but East Lake School is being considered a high priority. I have visited East Lake School since it opened and have seen the staff do some reshuffling so that there is not the crowding in the learning commons and students are only spending 30% of their time in those shared areas. The teachers are doing an excellent job and good things are happening at that school. ”
Most of the overcrowding seems to be only at the elementary school level, but as those children grow, the high school space is bound to hit the same problem that is being faced now. LaPeare addressed that by saying, “Chestermere High School was overcrowded a few years ago, prior to the decision to remove Grade 9 students from the high school. Once that move occurred, Chestermere High School is now at approximately 75% utilization – showing lots of room for growth. A high school in Langdon will only be constructed if Chestermere High School becomes over 100% utilized and if it can be shown that should a new high school be built in Langdon, that both it and Chestermere High school would house 400-500 students each. It is also being discussed that a new high school in Langdon would double as a recreation centre, thus providing both education and recreation to Langdon. There is space in Chestermere that is being held for a new high school, but the construction of that school will be based on growth.”
As for the possibility of portables for East Lake School, although there does seem to be an application plan and timeline, no estimated date could be provided as to when the school would receive portables should this second application be approved by the Province.