Proposed Aldersyde School Site

A parent in Okotoks continues her fight to get the Foothills School Division to take another look at plans for two high schools for the town.

Right now, the school division plans go ahead with one in Aldersyde and is looking at a second on land recently purchased by the town.

Laurie Hunka says a recent release trumpeting the new site off 32nd street is misleading.

"Of course they're (the school division) is approving the new site provided by the Town, it's the only property we have and it doesn't actually change their plans," she says. "The FSD has only received approval, funds and land for the first phase of the school which is the Aldersyde site, so basically whet they told us in that release last week is they're continuing with the plans for Aldersyde in the absence of public consultation on both sites."

She says the school division is trying to appease parents by telling them they're going ahead with the new school and in the future, if the school is required and if they receive funding they'll move ahead with the second phase.

The school division says the province won't fund a school until municipalities have fully transferred the land and addressed zoning requirements as well as meeting other criteria such as having utilities and parking areas on place.

There's also a difference of opinion about timelines for the new schools.

The School Division says they can get shovels in the ground at Aldersyde next spring but wouldn't be able to start on the 32nd Street site until spring of 2017.

Hunka says Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson has said they can break ground on the 32nd Street site in the fall of 2016.
 
Hunka says it would be worth the wait before moving ahead.