Airdrie has done everything possible to convince the provincial government that it needs not just one, but several new schools immediately. Chestermere, known as the fastest growing town in Alberta, has schools with a utilization rate as high as 105 per cent and is expected to reach an accommodation crisis by the middle of 2014.
Our school board has been warning the public about the crisis situation across the entire division for years, and created backup plan upon backup plan to try to make the best of a bad situation. Airdrie-Chestermere MLA Rob Anderson has spoken about the school crisis at every opportunity, in public and behind closed doors with government officials. Airdrie’s Chamber of Commerce has joined the effort, encouraging its members and the public to write the Province about the matter. Not one, but two consecutive Airdrie mayors have taken up the cause. School councils have banded together to hold public meetings to discuss the issue. A local student even started a petition, garnering thousands of signatures and took it to the Legislature.
The facts are well-known. In Airdrie, every school will be over 100 per cent capacity by the end of 2011. No new school has been approved in the city since 2003. It takes three to four years to build a school. Of Airdrie’s 40,000 residents, one-third are school-age or will be in the next five years. And, despite the economic downturn, the city continues to be one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada. The numbers in Chestermere are lower but continue to steadily increase. There can be no disputing that several new schools are required, and we need them now.
The Province has heard Airdrie’s case. In the past year, several officials, including the Minister of Education, have said that school space is the top infrastructure priority. As such, the Province should not wait until this spring’s budget to announce new schools. The work must begin now. We simply can’t wait for sod turnings and photo-ops.
Enough with the politics. It’s time for action.
