New classroom space! On paper
To ease the city’s monstrous overcrowding problem in classrooms Calgary just got 10 news schools — at least on paper. Premier Alison Redford recently announced 10 schools all in Calgary’s outlying suburbs and one renovation. This brings the premier closer to meeting her 2012 campaign promise to build 50 schools in Alberta and “modernize” 70 existing schools all by 2016 and with an estimated price tag of $2 billion over three years for capital costs related to education infrastructure.
Wildrose education critic Bruce McAllister was quick to issue a release questioning the government’s exuberance over the recent school announcements pointing out “the latest batch of new school announcements once again come without firm completion dates or price tags.” He also claims that it takes an average of three years to build a school in Alberta so the new schools will not be completed by 2016 as Redford promised.
The new schools will be in the communities of Auburn Bay Cranston Evergreen McKenzie Towne New Brighton-Copperfield Panorama Hills Scenic Acres Tuscany and an additional southeast location yet to be determined. In total they are expected to accommodate 7600 students.
