Airdrie may be one step closer to securing a long-awaited Francophone high school in the years to come, thanks to the advocacy efforts of Le Conseil scolaire FrancoSud, the Francophone school district for southern Alberta.
Representatives from the school district argue the proposed high school would help alleviate the strain on École francophone d’Airdrie, which is the city's only current Francophone school. Located in the southeast community of Ravenswood, the school currently offers programming for preschool, and Kindergarten to Grade 12 students, and is nearing capacity.
According to Marco Bergeron, chair of FrancoSud, the school is currently operating at 81 per cent of its capacity, and the French-speaking community has, in recent years, voiced a demand for a Francophone high school in Airdrie.
“The community asked for a Francophone school, because we have no more room, no more space,” he told the Airdrie City View.
The chair advised École francophone d'Airdrie has a maximum capacity of 525 students and is nearing 500 students enrolled this school year. He said in the past, upper-grade students eager to attend the K-12 school have been turned away because of a lack of space.
“The concern we have is that we lost some high-school students because there’s not enough room,” he explained. “So that’s why we need a high school for [grades 10 through 12]. That’s why we are trying to separate the high school – because we have a lot of demand for the high school as well.”
Bergeron said a Francophone high school would be an important addition to Airdrie as the city’s population continues to grow. Of the city's approximately 77,000 residents, he noted there are 1,815 students eligible to attend a Francophone school under Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Charter stipulates the provincial and territorial governments of Canada shall provide education to their citizens in the official language of their choice, even in areas where a minority of residents speaks that language.
“We have room for 500 [students] so we still need a place for older kids interested in attending our school. That’s what we need for the community,” Bergeron added. “We try to serve the community as well. The Francophone [community] is growing and growing.”
According to the chair, as per a recent provincial assessment, there are 67,000 eligible Francophone students in Alberta. He said a local Francophone high school, with its proposed location in the northwest community of Reunion, has been in the works for approximately four years.
He said it is important for Airdrie's Francophone youth to have access to learning in the French language, an official language of Canada.
“It’s two official languages in Canada, the French language is not only a second language, but it’s also an official language like English,” he said. “It’s important to be bilingual – students get a bilingual diploma – that's very important.
“So, when they’re done school, they have two first official languages. That’s the advantage for the community as well.”
On Feb. 6, Airdrie City council was asked to provide a letter of support to the Minister of Infrastructure demonstrating that Airdrie has a large Francophone population, and indicating a need for a dedicated Francophone high school in the community.
According to FrancoSud, the release of 2021 census data on instruction in the minority official language indicates there are 1,815 children aged 18 and under who are eligible for Francophone education in Airdrie, “making [Airdrie] the nine city in western Canada with the most right-holders,” read a statement from FrancoSud.
“In light of those numbers, we can confirm that Airdrie has a very large Francophone population and that there is a genuine need for a dedicated Francophone high school,” the district said.
Bergeron said the school district has met with various MLAs and representatives from the City to obtain their support in advocating the provincial government for a local Francophone high school. FrancoSud’s three-year capital plan for 2023-26 lists an Airdrie Francophone high school as the district's top priority.
“The City of Airdrie supports us to have another school and they voiced their support as well with a letter to the minister of education,” he shared.
He added the district is waiting for a decision from the Province in the next few months, but hopes to hear sooner rather than later, considering a new school could take approximately two to three years to build.
“We already have land, because the minister of education and infrastructure won’t give you a school if you don’t have land,” he shared.
“Now we just need to wait for the announcement from the [government] about the school, but Airdrie is ready to receive a school.”
