RVS Still Pushing For Much Needed Schools In The Division

Last weekend, residents in the community of Langdon rallied for the Province to fund a much-needed school in the area. 

According to RVS Board Chair Todd Brand, the community has done everything they can to get the ball rolling on a new school.

“The community out there has worked very hard to raise funds and make sure the site is secured. They want to turn that into a community hub area to have recreation facilities and all that attached to the High School. As we understand it, it was one of the key priorities from the Provincial Government is that they want to see sites that have that type of community hub.”

The capacity issues facing Langdon aren’t just affecting that community but others nearby.

“Some High School students in Langdon go to Chestermere. Chestermere is in an extremely crowded situation at this point. That whole sector is looking to rise from currently this year at a 90% utilization to be about 116% over the next four years.”

Brand said that a High School in Langdon and a K-9 School in Chestermere are 1 and 2 on the priority list for new buildings.

Unfortunately, no new schools for RVS were approved in the last capital projects announcement from the Government in March.

Brand says that the division desperately needs schools across all their communities.

“Our growth rate is down where we estimate it’s going to be around 930 students this year across the division. That’s slightly just under our usual 1000. It’s still well within the range where we need at least one new school build every single year. Because we’re usually reaching over that 1000 [mark], we really need two school builds every single year for Rocky View Schools just to maintain the high utilization rate that we currently have.”

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