Edmonton public schools adding 'one modular classroom every day' in enrolment

Edmonton public schools are adding the equivalent of one modular classroom every day in terms of enrolment.

That's according to a new report, the Student Accommodation Plan 2024–2025, discussed during Tuesday's Edmonton Public School Board meeting.

"Our division enrolment is currently climbing by the equivalent of one modular classroom every day," said EPSB  infrastructure managing director Christopher Wright.  

Enrolment last year was over 115,000 students.

That figure has increased to over 120,000 students this school year. 

The division is projected to reach 100 per cent utilization of attendance area high school space in the 2025–2026 school year, despite the recent openings of Dr. Anne Anderson School in 2021 and Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack School earlier this year. 

Reliance on using modular classrooms

According to the report, many newer schools have a greater number of modular classrooms compared to permanent construction classrooms, which poses challenges when it comes to access to water, washrooms and lockers. 

"We are looking at all roads possible to keep as many kids close to home as possible," said Jennifer Thompson, a manager of infrastructure planing with the board.

"So we are putting modulars in some unconventional places, but we're trying to accommodate them where we can," Thompson said, noting many modulars are being allocated for south of Anthony Henday Drive, where there is a concentration of newer schools. 

Since approximately 2010, the division has installed or relocated 440 modular classrooms in place of receiving funding for new school construction, according to the report. 

Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced $215 million more in funding for school divisions across the province in July for the 2024-25 school year. The province said the money was a response to rapidly increasing enrolment rates.

After inflation, Edmonton Public Schools is now expecting an additional $22.4 million for this school year.

"We welcome the use of modulars in order to address space needs where we can, but ultimately, what we need to see is 50 new schools built in the next 10 years for Edmonton Public Schools," board chair Julie Kusiek told CBC in an interview. 

Desperate times call for unconventional methods

From introducing school in the evenings to expanding options for younger grades, school trustees brainstormed potential avenues to explore in the future to alleviate the school crunch.

"We need to start to think bigger," superintendent Darrel Robertson said. 

"What might a second shift in high school be for kids that want to learn in the evening look like? Might that provide us some relief in terms of the growth pressures that we have?"

In early September, the advocacy committee of the EPSB said the district is growing by about 5,000 students a year, enough to fill two new high schools. 

Edmonton Public Schools is the second largest division in Alberta.

The School Construction Accelerator Program, announced by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in early September, will cost $8.6 billion over three years. It adds $6.5 billion to the previously announced amount of $2.1 billion. 

Smith said the plan aims to create an additional 150,000 student spaces across the province in the four years after the initial three-year push, for a total of 200,000 over seven years.

"Although we have a space crunch, and we needed these schools yesterday, we are going to continue to do everything we can to work with the province to build schools as fast as possible," said Kusiek.