The replacement of Charles Bloom Secondary School and an addition to Alexis Park Elementary are just two of the recommendations made to the Vernon School District as trustees consider the long-term facilities plan.
“It’s all preliminary at this point, and over the summer we’ll be planning the consultation meetings that will happen for each family of schools that requires change and we’ll start and we’ll review boundary changes,” said board chairperson Kelly Smith.
“The fall is going to be very busy.” Trustees have accepted the 13 recommendations within the long-term facility plan as presented by staff to begin the consultation and priority process.
Among the recommendations are the replacement of Lumby’s Charles Bloom as a high priority project; a boundary review for the Kalamalka Secondary family of schools to address enrolment growth pressures at Coldstream Elementary, balancing enrolment with Lavington and Kidston; the replacement and expansion of Silver Star and BX schools; the replacement of the district board office; determine if the five undeveloped sites owned by the district should be held for potential future educational facility purposes or if these sites are no longer required and should be designated surplus, leased out or disposed; develop options for alternate programs, and major renovation or replacement requirements of the Dorothy Alexander Centre.
“There is a government index for evaluating the condition of buildings, so at some point it costs more to renovate than it does to replace, and once you go beyond that point it doesn’t mean you do replace it, but these are things we have to look at,” said Smith.
“Were going to have to hit the ground running in September and we’re going to start working on our strategic plan because the last one wraps up in 2017 and then we’ll start the consultation and review of the long-term facilities plan, which hasn’t been done for 10 years. We had to do that in order to have the ability to request capital funding from the ministry, so that’s our five-year capital plan that has to be done in September.
“So all of these possible buildings and renovations have to go in on that plan, but it doesn’t mean it is going to happen — there is no priority to the list.”
