Voyageur Elementary in Quesnel’s Uplands neighbourhood is getting set for a new playground.
The British Columbia government announced funding for playgrounds for 51 schools throughout the province last week, and Voyageur’s aging playground was on the list of facilities chosen for an upgrade. Voyageur has been allocated $90,000 for the project.
The new playground will be in place for the 2018/19 school year, and the money comes from the province’s new Playground Equipment Program, which aims to take fundraising pressure off of parents. The province will provide $5 million a year to school districts to buy new or replacement equipment.
“I’ve heard from parents that they need relief from fundraising tens of thousands of dollars for playground equipment – that’s a lot of bake sales and bottle drives for today’s busy parents,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education, in a press release.
“We’re delivering this fund to help parents, and provide access to communities that don’t have the fundraising capacity to buy the play equipment students need.”
The funds have been allocated based on need. The province says school districts that applied but did not receive funding this year will do so next year, if they re-apply.
Voyageur is the only school in School District #28 to receive playground funding this year.
Voyageur Elementary PAC president Robyn Cassidy says the grant has taken a huge pressure off parents, the PAC, the school and the district.
“The current playground is dated and has seen better days. We still have some wooden structures, which we no longer often see. When the school population nearly doubled two years ago [after Ecole Baker closed], we expected some growing pains, but with the loss of the black top and basketball court and the introduction of more than 100 students, we simply outgrew our current playground,” she explains.
Cassidy says the PAC has had a playground upgrade on its list for some time, but raising $90,000 would have taken years.
“We all saw the need, but how to achieve the reality was going to be extremely challenging,” she comments.
“Now that we are able to upgrade the equipment, we can provide a new and exciting way for students to be outdoors, be physically active, and have a playground that represents and provides for our school demographics.”
School Board chair Gloria Jackson says the Board of Education is pleased with the outcome for Voyageur students.
“Students at Voyageur Elementary School and kids in the surrounding neighbourhood will enjoy the new playground for the start of the 2018/19 school year. The Board sincerely hopes the Ministry will continue to provide government-funded playgrounds on an ongoing basis as part of their commitment to public education,” she says.
