The city says Aberdeen could need as many as two more elementary schools and a high school in the future to keep up with population growth (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

SD73 CAPITAL PROJECTS

City of Kamloops warns new schools needed in Aberdeen before long

Jun 25, 2019 | 5:47 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops says new schools in Aberdeen, an ever-booming neighbourhood in Kamloops, should be on the school district’s future wish list.

School District 73 released its capital project priorities last week. The city met with administration and trustees leading up to the final list to advise them on future growth.

Planning and sustainability manager Jason Locke says while Aberdeen is not part of the immediate needs, more schools — two elementary schools and a high school — will eventually be required.

“The City of Kamloops is working with the school district and also landowners up in the Aberdeen area to identify a suitable site,” said Locke. “So obviously for a school, you need a flat site that can accomodate play fields. A site hasn’t been identified at this point, but we’re in the process of working with relevant stakeholders to identify a suitable site.”

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The district’s list of wants is extensive. An expansion of Westmount Elementary is at the top of the district’s list of priorities. The price tag is $12.85 million and would see more classrooms and the elimination of portables.

“We’ve seen enormous growth up in Batchelor Heights over the last number of years, and that, in turn, has led to a lot of pressure on Westmount Elementary School to the point where it’s really bursting at the seams right now,” said Board of Education member John O’Fee. “There’s more portables going into that school.”

Westmount Elementary is No. 1 on the district’s list for school expansions. It would cost more than $12 million (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

The province has divided capital project requests into eight categories. In the ‘New School’ category, an elementary school in Pineview Valley is No. 1. With an expanding neighbourhood that is seeing more young families, the school board says it’s desperately needed.

“The city has certainly identified there’s a lot of growth in [Pineview],” noted O’Fee. “It’s a relatively young population. It’s going to have some turnover, so we’re going to see pressures put on existing Dufferin Elementary, which is quite a ways away. Pineview’s a logical new school.”

Sun Peaks is No. 2 on the list for new schools in the district, costing $25 million.

Sahali Secondary is No. 2 on the list for an expansion. The price tag would be $22 million. An expansion at Brock Middle School is third and would cost $8.7 million.

Meanwhile, South Kam is at the top of the list for school replacements at a cost of $87 million.

O’Fee says the list may be extensive, but he feels it’s Kamloops’s turn to receive more education funding.

“We are one of the growing districts, one of the fastest-growing districts in the province right now,” said O’Fee. “We have some quite old schools that, quite frankly, needs a lot of money invested in them, to the point where they’re almost a rebuild stage of things. These are the pressures that come with providing quality education for young people.”