Rocky View Schools (RVS) enrolment has increased more than 3 per cent this school year.
RVS director Colette Winter explained during the Oct. 6 School Board meeting, that RVS’ student enrolment increased by 3.7 per cent.
In February, RVS projected 27,563 students for this school year, but now has a total of 27,612 students.
“Our enrolments are up, that’s not a surprise to anyone. Our enrolments have increased by 990 students,” Winter said. “We were pretty close to projection, there weren’t any really big swings anywhere.”
To calculate the enrolment projections, RVS reviews how many grade one students are coming in, how many grade 12 students are leaving, development trends, and birthrate data.
“Compared to last year, with the online schools, we decreased by 308 students. When we look at the actual students in seats in other schools, the increase is 1,294 students,” Winter said.
The Chestermere, Indus, and Langdon schools increased by 55 students.
“We no longer have the Prince of Peace School, which affected the increase in enrolments. The increase is closer to 200,” Winter said. “It’s the middle schools that are a little bit higher than what we projected.”
Prairie Waters and East Lake saw significant increases, with 33 students coming to Prairie Waters, and 72 students coming to East Lake.
“It’s the new developments, that we’re starting to see impact and increase in enrolments,” Winter said. “Last year we were at 86 per cent utilization, and this year we’re at 92 per cent in the Chestermere area.”
RVS currently has a utilization rate of 91 per cent.
“That’s a high number. Last year, we were at 87 per cent, we increased by four per cent across all of our schools,” Winter said. “Chestermere has really been impacted by this. Chestermere Lake is at 110 per cent utilization right now.”
Out of 53 schools, 11 have portable units on them that are beyond what they are designed for, Winter explained. Although the utilization rate is at 91 per cent, many schools could be considered higher.
“This causes me a lot of concern and everybody on the board. We have seen some projections that in four years we will be over 100 per cent, absolutely very concerned, and I think it’s a critical time for this,” RVS ward six trustee Fiona Gilbert said.
Superintendent of Schools Greg Luterbach explained that adding the portable units to schools is a temporary solution.
“We picked modulars for schools that are growing. We solved one problem and created another problem, and we can see that in some of the numbers,” Luterbach said.
Going forward, the RVS board will continue to advocate for new schools, and for the provincial government to invest in communities in the RVS division.
In the interim, from when new schools are announced, to when they will have space for students, RVS will review attendance and grade configurations.
“Our growing areas are feeling the pressure. This is a year where we’re growing, and we lost the Prince of Peace building as a result of repeated requests to the government to purchase it for us, that didn’t come through,” Luterbach said.
“It’s a significant challenge, the issue is now, and we need to actively work to resolve the issue,” he added. “In the three to four years it’s going to take to actually get those new buildings, sure a new modular here and there will alleviate some pressure, but not enough.”
