Enrolment growth at Edmonton Public Schools reaches levels not seen in 60 years

Figures in Edmonton Public Schools' updated 10-year facilities plan indicate there's not enough classroom space to keep pace with surging student enrolment as more people continue moving to Alberta's capital.

Trustees heard during Tuesday's board meeting that the division is projecting a student population of about 122,000 for September 2024, up from 115,000 last September.

Student numbers will continue to surge in the next decade, reaching about 176,000 by 2033, the facilities plan says.

"The division is witnessing a remarkable enrolment increase phase," the plan says.

"This surge in student numbers reflects broader demographic changes and poses both opportunities and challenges for the division in terms of resource allocation, student accommodation and infrastructure planning."

Previous projections estimated the division reaching 141,000 students by 2032. The change is due to major increases in Edmonton's population, according to Roland Labbe, the division's director of infrastructure.

If this level of growth continues at its current rate, one that hasn't been seen since 1964, officials predict schools across the division will hit full capacity two years from now.

"It's an impossibility to be able to accommodate that many kids in our existing infrastructure," superintendent Darrel Robertson told trustees.

"Something has to change with respect to how we're building schools and keeping up with growth."

Figures show the overall utilization rate across the division is 86 per cent, and expected to reach 90 per cent by next September.

As that number continues to grow, it could mean more students have to be crammed into fewer schools. The division might also have to re-evaluate how spaces are used in its existing schools.

It could mean doing away with dedicated spaces for subjects like music, art and drama.

School board chair Julie Kuziek told reporters after the meeting that enrolment numbers are rising faster than can be reported.

"What we saw today was certainly a dire need for additional new school construction at an accelerated pace," she said.

The division currently has 213 schools. Robertson said new schools aren't being built fast enough to meet demand.

"Without new schools, our division will be at 100 per cent capacity in the 2026-27 school year," he said, noting how it takes roughly three to five years to build a new school.

The facilities plan says that to maintain its current 88.6 per cent utilization rate, the division would need to add 55,000 student spaces by 2033 —  equivalent to opening 58 new K-9 schools.

The facilities plan says that if the division exceeds 100 per cent capacity, most schools would have closed boundaries or a lottery process for children to be enrolled. There would be no space for alternative program expansions, and most schools would not have dedicated spaces available for other programming.

Trustee Saadiq Sumar told administrators it's time to start re-imagining how new schools are built, to maximize the number of available classrooms. 

Robertson said there is a need for those dedicated spaces, but added there have been some considerations in school design, such as shrinking spaces used for vocational purposes.

He said officials are engaging in conversations with the province about the matter.

The 2024-25 provincial budget, introduced last month, includes money to build a new public school for grades 7 to 12 in southwest Edmonton.