An Airdrie high school will receive $40 million from the Alberta government for a future modernization and expansion project.
On March 10, Alberta Education announced $268 million would be allocated from its 2021 budget to help fund 14 education-related capital projects in Alberta, including the construction of five new schools and upgrades to existing schools. Among the projects is a modernization and expansion of St. Martin de Porres High School (SMdP).
Mary Martin, the board chair of the Calgary Catholic School Division (CCSD), said the division is excited to receive the $40 million commitment, which will fund crucial upgrades to CCSD's only Airdrie-based high school.
“We recognize this is a difficult time provincially, as far as the fiscal climate goes,” she said. “This is a much-needed project that has been in our capital plan since 2004. This was our most critical and long-standing need, so we’re pleased to have it.”
According to Martin, SMdP was originally built in 1998 as a school for Airdrie-based Catholic students in Kindergarten to Grade 9. The school was later converted to a high school as the city's population grew.
“We’ve modified it to the best extent possible to accommodate high school students, but high school students have needs that are more complex and the site really needs to be modified,” she said. “In most circumstances, a new building would be provided from the ground up.”
The plans include upgrades to all instructional and non-instructional spaces in SMdP, according to Martin, including regular programming, career and technology studies, arts and science classrooms, as well as moving and enhancing the administrative offices.
Martin said the renovations will increase SMdP’s capacity to 1,200 students. St. Martin de Porres’ capacity is currently 329 students in the core building and 450 in its modular units.
The school has 839 students enrolled this year, and the school’s utilization rate at 99 per cent.
“If you include students who chose online learning this year…you’re looking at 110 per cent capacity,” Martin said. “We’re completely out of space there.”
Highlighting the need for SMdP’s expansion, Martin said CCSD projects the Airdrie school’s enrolment to surpass 1,000 students within five years and for its utilization rate to exceed 130 per cent by 2025.
“By modifying this [school], we are providing high-quality learning spaces for up to 1,200 future high school students and saving some money for the Province that could be utilized elsewhere,” she said.
While the date to begin construction is still a few years away, Martin said CCSD already has secured about $250,000 from the Alberta government for preliminary work, including site-surveying and design. She added those are already underway.
In a statement, Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt said an expansion of the city’s Catholic high school is crucial as Airdrie’s population continues to climb in the coming years.
“Airdrie is one of Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities and Alberta’s government is committed to helping us capitalize on our potential,” she said. “This funding from Budget 2021 for St. Martin de Porres High School is an investment in our future and excellent news for families and students in our community.”
While CCSD celebrates the funding, Airdrie’s public school district did not receive good news on March 10, as none of the funding announced was allocated toward the construction of new schools for Rocky View Schools (RVS).
In a statement to the Airdrie City View, RVS' communications staff said it was disappointing that none of the division's three capital priority projects for 2020-21 – a K-9 school in Airdrie, a K-5 school in Cochrane and an expansion of Bow Valley High School in Cochrane – received funding.
“It is critical that the government provide funding for new schools at a pace that meets the needs of our increasing student population,” the statement read. “We now wait for word from the government on our request for modular units to help address some of the space needs for our students.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
