By Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone

School capital investment: a key priority for Kamloops and Thompson Valleys

Oct 4, 2018 | 2:55 PM

OVER THE PAST DECADE AND A HALF, the residents of Kamloops and the surrounding area have been the beneficiaries of significant investments in provincial infrastructure, and I’m proud to have played my part in advocating for these much-needed projects approved (and in many cases already built) by the former B.C. Liberal government.

Such investments include close to half a billion dollars in hospital capital for the Clinical Services Building (now in use) and the Patient Care Tower (soon to be under construction) at Royal Inland Hospital; more than $100 million dollars in highway capital to expand the Trans-Canada Highway to four lanes from Monte Creek through Hoffman’s Bluff (built), plus another $199 million dollars committed to continue the four lanes from Hoffman’s Bluff through Chase to Jade Mountain; tens of millions of dollars in post-secondary capital for the new Industrial Training and Technology Centre (built), the new Nursing and Population Health Building (under construction), and the upgraded Old Main Building (and related establishment of a Law School) at Thompson Rivers University; millions in capital for the new BC Transit maintenance facility, a fleet of cleaner-burning CNG buses in Kamloops, and investments at the Kamloops Airport.

With this in mind, legitimate concerns have been raised about the level of capital funding provided to School District 73, requisite to its size, over the past decade and a half. So what do the facts tells us? Overall SD73 enrolment declined by 23 per cent from 1997 to 2015– from 17,659 students in 1997 to approximately 14,000 in 2015. During this time, the school district made the gut-wrenching decision to close fourteen schools. (Three were later re-opened.) Enrolment has levelled off and modestly increased since 2015, and based on current enrolments and future projections, the school district should see enrolment growth over the next ten years to approximately 15,500 students.

It’s also important to point out that there are actually ‘three districts within the district’ with respect to enrolment patterns. Specifically, most rural schools of SD73 are continuing to face declining enrolment, most schools on the north side of Kamloops are facing stable enrolment (with the exception of Westmount Elementary), and most schools on the south side of Kamloops are bursting at the seams.

Consider the existing and projected capacity numbers contained within the school district’s 2017-2018 Long Range Facilities Plan. Valleyview Secondary is at 143 per cent capacity (162 per cent within five years); Sahali Secondary is at 116 per cent capacity (133 per cent within five years); Westmount Elementary is at 141 per cent capacity (154 per cent within five years); Juniper Ridge Elementary is at 134 per cent capacity (160 per cent within five years). As well, all southwest sector schools are at or well beyond capacity including McGowan Park Elementary at 140 per cent capacity (largely due to the fact that elementary-aged children living in Pineview Valley were shifted to McGowan Park Elementary after Dufferin Elementary became full).

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All of these growth pressures and related capacity challenges are reflected in the school district’s priorities contained within their 2017-2018 Long Range Facilities Plan. In the immediate term, our school district has identified the need for approximately $50 million in capital to address its immediate priorities: an addition at Valleyview Secondary ($22 million), an addition at Westmount Elementary ($8.6 million) and a new elementary school in Pineview Valley ($18.2 million). Beyond this, our school district will require an ongoing infusion of capital to replace and expand a number of schools over the years ahead due to continued enrolment growth and further aging of existing structures.

It is suggested by some folks that SD73 should simply ‘re-open schools previously closed.’ However this is far easier said than done, as these structures for the most part are not located close to where the enrolment growth is taking place, they’re aging, and they’re being used today as daycares and community space for organizations such as the Cadets, the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club, the Big Little Science Centre, Kamloops Community Learning, and the Francophone School.

The board and administration of SD73 have done an admirable job of advocating for school capital, including through their recent ‘Schools: An Investment In Our Future’ campaign. They have been clear that if there is no capital funding from the province to create more space, the school district will need another thirty-one portables, and thirty-five additional classroom spaces will be required over the next five years.

Disappointingly, the NDP government’s school capital plan in the last fiscal year was lower than that of the previous BC Liberal government and remains lower for this year. The previous BC Liberal government had $687 million allocated for capital in 2017/18, while the NDP spent just $557 million. For 2018/19 we had $678 million in capital funding budgeted, but the NDP again only have $557 budgeted. It will come as no surprise that the NDP have allocated more funding as we enter the next provincial election in 2021.

And it will come as no surprise that Premier John Horgan recently announced $23.2 million for a 600-seat expansion at Royal Bay Secondary in Sooke, located in his riding. Royal Bay Secondary is currently at 135 per cent capacity and is a much newer school than Valleyview Secondary in Kamloops which is at 143 per cent capacity.

Overall, a targeted approach to capital funding – one that recognizes what’s going on in the different neighbourhoods within SD73 – is required. Bottom line is that our school district needs millions of dollars of capital, and it needs it now.

Along with my BC Liberal MLA colleague Peter Milobar, and as a dad of three daughters currently being taught by excellent teachers in SD73 schools, I will continue to make as my number one capital funding priority for Kamloops and the Thompson Valleys, the capital needed by our school district to meet the challenges of continued enrolment growth and aging infrastructure.