The Foothills School Division has approved a proposal to build a 900 student high school in Aldersyde and another 900 student high school on the newly purchased lands on the north end of Okotoks.

The division's board of trustees made the decision at its Wednesday afternoon meeting.

"We had a meeting with Alberta Education in the last few days and they are supportive of this plan," says superintendent John Bailey.

"It is a change in direction, but we are excited and it is a great opportunity for our students."

Bailey says the most urgent need is for the kindergarten to Grade 9 population in Okotoks, as Dr. Morrison Gibson School and Westmount School are both over 100 per cent capacity.

The plan to convert the current site of the Foothills Composite High School/Alberta High School of Fine Arts to a K-9 school is still in place.

"We're looking at unparalleled utilization rates and that's part of the reason why we put a cap on Westmount and shifted the kindergarten to Big Rock and are directing any junior high students to Okotoks Junior High School," Bailey says.

On the topic of the public's concern over building a high school outside of Okotoks, Bailey says time was the main concern for the division.

"We are trying to play catch up with school facilities in Okotoks, and it's because of the lack of land," he says.

"We do not have enough facility space in Okotoks, so to go out and do public consultations about another site when we now have two sites available, we felt would add unnecessary time."

However, Bailey says the division is looking to involve the community in design discussions.

It is expected construction will begin at the Aldersyde site in the spring of 2016 and it could be a year from now, at the earliest, for construction to start on the Okotoks