A new high school for students in Okotoks' Wedderburn area has reached the top of the Foothills School Division (FSD) capital project priority list.
A Grade 10-12 school with a 1,500-student capacity at the site on 32nd Street leads the list of 10 projects on the list for 2022-25, which was approved by the FSD board of trustees during a March 16 meeting.
Second on that list is a new K-9 school for 900 students in the D'Arcy Ranch Development.
A third Okotoks project also made the overall priorities list — the modernization of Big Rock School.
The three-year capital plan priorities were organized in three sections: new construction, modernization priorities and overall priority list.
Upgrades to Big Rock School made the list of priorities as well — seventh on the modernization list and tenth overall.
School boards are required to submit a three-year capital plan to Alberta Education by April 1 each year.
Capital plans are presented to provide justification for projects and supportability from the province.
Plans also provide an overview of planning and management, local priorities, project definition, estimated budget and scope to the government.
The division said Alberta Education will review the submitted plans and assess and prioritize the submitted projects based on the health and safety of school facilities, existing building conditions, enrolment pressures, functionality and programming needs as well as legal rights and legislative requirements.
These points have been used as criteria to prepare the FSD plan, according to the division.
Proposals are also largely impacted by government funding.
New schools and modernizations are 100 per cent funded by the provincial government.
No FSD projects were included in the list of the province's 2022 budget school capital projects.
Board chair and Ward 3 trustee Theresa Letendre expressed the division's disappointment with the absence of funding in a March 9 letter to Highwood MLA RJ Sigurdson after he met with the board and executive team on March 2.
"We were disheartened to see the funding for the Okotoks high school was not included in this year's budget," she wrote. "We look forward to your public advocacy that a new high school in your riding in aligned to the growing needs of our community and in the best interest of student learning and success."
A project that was previously No. 1 on the board's to-do list is nearing completion. An open house for the modernized Blackie School is set for March 31.
