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By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: Pineview school announcement is great; Kamloops needs more

Feb 24, 2023 | 10:57 AM

THE PROVINCIAL NDP GOVERNMENT missed an opportunity to score some major political points in Kamloops this week when it inexplicably announced approval for a new school in Pineview Valley via a late-afternoon news release.

The education minister could have held a big pep rally at McGowan Park Elementary, where most of the children who live in Pineview are attending.

She could have pointed out the sum total of schools built in Kamloops during 16 years of B.C. Liberal reign. That would be zero.

But instead, the minister was with all other MLAs in Victoria, sitting through a confounding legislative session where there is apparently nothing of substance worth debating.

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In fact, by the time the Pineview elementary school is expected to open in 2026, it will have been more than a quarter-century between new schools in Kamloops.

There have been major expansions at Norkam Secondary and Valleyview Secondary in that interval, but no new builds.

During a portion of that time, mind you, enrolment was dwindling and it was more prudent to close and amalgamate schools than to build new ones.

That began to turn around a good decade ago, and most Kamloops schools are now stuffed to the gills again. Some of those closed schools, like Westsyde and Ralph Bell, have reopened.

Demographic trends ebb and flow – not only in the broader city of Kamloops, but in individual neighbourhoods.

Fewer and fewer young families live in the downtown, which is why Stuart Wood is a mere memory. Someday, Lloyd George Elementary might meet the same fate.

The suburbs are growing, for better or worse, and that’s where services like schools are needed.

Anyone interested in health of the local education system will be happy with the government’s announcement this week, no matter how low key.

Happy, yes. Satisfied, no.

Almost as much as Kamloops needed a relief valve in the southwest sector, it also needs one for Batchelor Heights and Westmount, growth spots for the city filled with young families.

Not only that, the city needs a new high school.

In this case, it’s not being opulent or selfish to ask for more from the provincial government — it’s just asking government to catch up to reality.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.