The open houses for "Balancing Airdrie Student Spaces" are now in the rearview mirror for Rocky View Schools (RVS).

Over a few weeks, RVS held open houses to hear Airdronians' opinions on possible changes that might be coming to a few Airdrie schools.

Superintendent of Schools for RVS, Greg Luterbach explained how he thought the open houses went.

"We had about 475 people attend in person. I think most people understand the challenges that we're facing across the city of Airdrie. Most people saw some parts they liked in the different scenarios."

Here are the three initial scenarios that were brought forward according to RVS:

  • Converting C.W. Perry School into a high school. This will redistribute Grade 9 -12 students across Airdrie. C.W. Perry was chosen because of its location in the city and ability to accommodate high school-level programming in its spaces.
  • Grade 8 students stay in their current school for Grade 9, creating a more traditional Grade 10 - 12 high school model. This minimizes the changes for families as students stay in their schools for one more year; however, it impacts the programming options our Grade 9 students currently have and increases space pressures in some schools by adding a grade. It may also require adding or removing a grade level at some other schools.
  • Re-organize grade structures across Airdrie schools to remove urgent pressures where possible (Kindergarten – Grade 6, Grade 7 – 9 and Grade 10 – 12). This addresses both high school utilization and standardizes grade configuration across the community.

What was much appreciated, was all the notes RVS received of how scenarios could change and make more sense and easier on families, stated Luterbach.

While the open houses are now over, Airdrie residents are still able to share their thoughts on what they think about the scenarios by survey, which is open until March 17.

"The trustees will make a decision on April 25th, for implementation, mostly starting in the fall of 2025."

Luterbach did mention in years past when decisions like this happen it's very rare they decide to go with one of the original scenarios.

"Sometimes we'll come back with a little bit of a hybrid. We'll really double down, dive into the numbers again and figure out what makes sense to come forward."

Luterbach finished off by saying it was great to see so many Airdronians interested in what's happening with local schools.

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