SD73 refocusing efforts after province rejects business case for proposed Batchelor Heights elementary school

“We had some students start attending Westsyde Elementary and some students start attending David Thompson Elementary,” SD73 Board Chair Heather Grieve said. “We saw those pressures alleviate a bit.”

Grieve said last October’s fire at Westmount Elementary and the temporary relocation of all students showed SD73 is able to navigate space pressures at Westmount and surrounding schools. She added those space pressures were the “backbone” of the now-rejected business case for the school in Batchelor Heights.

“We knew we were at that last stage of the business case, and we were waiting for an announcement,” Grieve said. “I don’t know that the fire necessarily would have changed the outcome, but I think it did show us, as a community, that we do have some abilities to reconfigure and to look at how to manage space pressures.”

CFJC reached out to the provincial government for comment on the decision to not fund the project, but did not receive a response by deadline.

While there is some disappointment at the board level, the school district plans to hold onto the land on Grasslands Boulevard which was acquired last year. It will also refocus its efforts to address areas of higher need, like a new secondary school in the Aberdeen area, which is at the top of the wish list, followed by a new elementary school in Juniper West.

“We’ve seen high numbers of students in elementary schools in the southwest sector and that bubble is going to be moving through our southwest sector secondary schools, which are really full,” Grieve said.

“There are already a number of portables at Sa-Hali and at South Kamloops, and Valleyview is projected to start having portables as well, even with the expansion. We certainly don’t have another secondary school we can open and the pressures there have really been prominent over the last few years.”

DPAC Disappointed

The SD73 District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) is not pleased with the school board’s decision to not keep up the fight for a new school in Batchelor Heights, arguing it is very rare for the province to pull back this late in the planning process.

DPAC Chair Bonnie McBride says the need for a school in that part of Kamloops is well documented, noting kids are bussed to other nearby schools to address capacity issues at Westmount Elementary, which remains over capacity.

“I’m shocked that there doesn’t seem to be a need in the eyes of people who hold the money for a school in Bachelor Heights,” McBride said. “Although we are hearing over and over about difficult financial times and things like that, this was a school that was a long way down the process.”

“We are seeing new builds announced across the province. We’re just not seeing them here.”

McBride believes SD73 should be able to lobby for the new secondary school in Aberdeen while also pushing for the school in Batchelor Heights, along with the other projects on its capital plan.

“There are nine trustees and a dozen senior administrators at our district, and we can do two things at once,” she said. “There is no reason for us not to be advocating strongly for investment in this district.”

“This district has the lowest capital investment in the province in education over the last 20 or 30 years. We get next to nothing in terms of education funding from whichever government is in power, and we need to do better.”

School May Return in the Future

Grieve says SD73 plans to look at enrolment numbers and projections as well as factors like birth rates and growth in Kamloops before deciding where Batchelor Heights fits into its plans and whether it will resume advocacy for the school.

She also said there has been recent investment in SD73 like the Valleyview Secondary expansion, the re-opening of George Hilliard, a larger rebuilt Parkcrest Elementary School following its fire and the construction of Sníne Elementary, which is set to open this fall.

“Lots to consider that has to be brought back to the board,” Grieve said. “We’ll report more out on that to community. It’s really too early for us to tell. This was just information that we are trying to grapple with.”

“Where Bachelor Heights fits on that [facilities plan] will have to actually be direction from operations staff.”

McBride said DPAC will keep lobbying for the new school in the hopes that it will cause the province and the school district to reverse course. She says its because the broader community stands to also benefit if this new school goes ahead.

“No school in Batchelor Heights also means there are no community rooms available for rent. There won’t be a gym or playground for kids aged 5 to 12,” McBride said. “All of those things that come with a school that benefit a neighbourhood have disappeared.”

by Victor Kaisar

SD73 refocusing efforts after province rejects business case for proposed Batchelor Heights elementary school

DPAC Disappointed

School May Return in the Future

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