An Okotoks public school trustee isn’t saying if she supports a proposal by the Town of Okotoks to locate a new high school just north of town, but she said it can be done.
The Town of Okotoks has conditionally bought 40 acres of land directly west of Holy Trinity Academy on 32 Street for a possible education and recreation campus.
The Town is suggesting the site as an alternative location for a new Foothills Composite High School, which is currently proposed to be built near the Legacy Field House at Aldersyde.
Okotoks trustee Laurie Copland said a school could be built at the 32 Street site if the division, the Town and the Province are able to come together to make it a priority.
“Is it doable? Of course it’s doable,” she said. “It’s doable anywhere.”
She said the issue will be on the agenda during the school board’s first meeting after summer break on Sept. 2.
Copland said time is of the essence. The division needs a new high school and it comes down to a question of where a school can be built first, she said.
Ultimately, Copland said she will put student needs first.
“We have kids to educate and we need a place for them to go,” she said.
Okotoks currently does not have any land available for new schools in the community.
As a result, the division announced in March a proposal to build a high school of 650 to 700 students near the Legacy Field House at Aldersyde.
The first phase of the high school could be completed within three years. The existing Foothills Composite High School will be converted to a junior high school.
Drew Chipman, Foothills division assistant superintendent of corporate services, said it is continuing with the proposed Aldersyde site until school trustees decide otherwise.
“The decision to this point is the Aldersyde site,” he said. “Until that changes, that’s still the direction we’re planning for.”
Chipman wasn’t able to say whether the Okotoks site could be an alternative to the Aldersyde location.
“I think it’s a little early to say whether it’s doable or not,” he said. “I think we have to look at it, look at the time frames and look at if it’s possible when it might be available.”
Chipman said the proposed Okotoks location is a good place to build a school, whether it’s a high school or a different school.
“We’re grateful the Town has realized we need school sites and whether or not it’s this high school or a future school that’s a great site and one we’ll push for as soon as we can get it,” he said.
The Town’s offer to purchase the 40-acre site just outside its north boundary is conditional on consent of the MD of Foothills, which has been notified of the Town’s intent to purchase the land for public use.
The MD has been working with the Foothills School Division on the Aldersyde site, an eight-acre municipal reserve parcel owned by the MD.
MD Reeve Larry Spilak said he doesn’t see a need to go ahead with plans to build at the Legacy Regional Field House if the division supports Okotoks’ proposal.
“If Okotoks can supply that and it’s okay with the school board, so be it,” he said.
Spilak said the field-house site was considered in the first place because there was no land available for new schools in Okotoks and the MD felt it was ideal to locate a school next to a major recreation complex.
He said Okotoks has the right idea with its proposal and it has the potential to meet the needs of the Town and the broader area surrounding Okotoks well into the future.
However, Spilak said the ball is in the Foothills School Division’s court.
“It’s their call,” he said.
Okotoks resident Laurie Hunka is concerned the division will continue to consider the Aldersyde location now that the Okotoks option is available.
She said public consultation is needed before work begins on the high school, at either site.
“It’s amazing to me to suppose that there is the possibility that the FSD could consider making any decisions on this matter without public consultation,” said Hunka.
Copland said there will be public consultation as the board moves forward with its own discussions on the issue.
Should the school division approve Okotoks’ proposed site, Highwood’s MLA said he’s prepared to go to bat for the division to ensure it will still receive provincial funding earmarked for the new school at the Aldersyde site.
MLA Wayne Anderson said the proposed Okotoks site is a better location.
“I’m really happy the Town of Okotoks is taking the move to move forward with procuring land for a school in Okotoks because I think most of the students are going to come from Okotoks,” said Wayne Anderson.
Anderson said he hopes the NDP government will stick to the funding commitment the Progressive Conservative government made to build the school.
