CBE is asking for more temporary classrooms as the space crisis continues

Calgary Public Schools need more portable classrooms to ease pressure from student growth, says the Calgary Board of Education.

The school board is asking the province to provide 64 modular classrooms to 17 of its most crowded schools in the 2025-26 school year as the number of overcrowded schools increases across the city.

The new CBE report shows that the district enrolled 5,436 more students last year on opening day.

The report attributes the near-record growth to domestic and international migration.

“Our utilization rate for the entire system is 95 percent. Full utilization is considered to be 85 percent,” said CBE board chairwoman Patricia Bolger.

“Sixty-four modules would make it much easier for children to attend school closer to home.”

Twelve of the 17 schools that need additional mobile devices for next year already have utilization rates above 100%.

According to the district, both Centennial High School and Dr. EP Scarlett High School in south Calgary had a school utilization rate of more than 120% at the beginning of this school year.

“Constructing a school is a three-to-four-year process. That’s why we really need these modules,” Bolger said.

The Alberta government has invested in 91 new modular classrooms in Calgary this school year, according to Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides.

CBE’s Simons Valley School, Sir Winston Churchill High School and Ian Bazalgette School are expected to receive mobile devices by the end of 2024.

Other schools in the district are scheduled to receive the portable devices in early 2025.

Teachers under pressure – says the union

According to the Alberta Teachers’ Association, teachers were forced to adapt due to lack of space.

“When I talk to my colleagues across the province, and especially in Calgary, they tell me that class sizes are larger than ever before,” said Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

“You try to build relationships with them and you try to work with their strengths and weaknesses. … It’s hard to do that when there are over 30 students in the class.”

Schilling also said he has been contacted by teachers who spend class time in hallways, stairwells or libraries due to lack of space.

Last month, the provincial government launched an ambitious plan to ease pressure from a boom in student enrollment.

The School Construction Accelerator Program will cost $8.6 billion over three years and will build up to 90 new schools in Alberta.

The first set of new school projects will be announced in the 2025 budget.

Schilling wants more investment in short-term solutions to prevent classroom overcrowding, such as portable devices.

“Ultimately, it’s a decision the government makes as to where they want to put their dollars,” Schilling said.

“They have failed to finance inflation and economic growth for many, many years and unfortunately students, parents and teachers are struggling with the consequences of these decisions.

In a statement, Nicolaides said the province will create 2,800 spaces for students in modular classrooms this school year.

He said 26 temporary classrooms are still being prepared and the province is working as quickly as possible to get them up and running.