Edgehill Elementary School needs an addition. James Thomson Elementary School should ready itself for more students. Oceanview Secondary School requires reconfiguration. That is according to a facilities report from Stantec Consulting to School District 47.
Hugh Skinner, an associate for facilities planning and operations with Stantec Consulting Ltd., attended a recent Powell River Board of Education meeting to advise the board on his findings and recommendations with regard to facility upgrades. Stantec is a professional consulting company which specializes in planning and project management. School District 47 has been working with the company for about a year in the development of a 10-year facilities plan.
Skinner broke down every school in the district to the board to talk about capacity and projections of future enrolment. Stantec went through all the schools about a year ago carrying out an engineering and architectural analysis of each building to determine which schools need upgrades. The company also compiled projected enrolments for each of the schools based upon historic trends and projected changes in demographics and facilities.
Declining enrolments has been a trend throughout school districts in BC for years now, but Stantec is projecting that trend to reverse in a few years hence. As more children of late stage baby boomers start having children of their own the enrolment rates are projected to pick up as those children start entering school. Skinner told the board that the decline of enrolment in elementary schools is projected to flatten out in about five years from now and then start going up again.
Based upon these projections Stantec can predict enrolment figures for individual schools and compare them to operating capacity to recommend upgrades or changes. Edgehill has the capacity, not including portable classrooms, for 182 students and has a current enrolment of 286 students. Grief Point Elementary School’s enrolment is hovering around its capacity for 336 students, but Skinner said that once Westview Elementary School is open it might draw more parents to enrol their children in the new school and affect enrolment figures across the district.
James Thomson’s enrolment is projected to go up substantially due to the introduction of French immersion this year. Currently 134 students attend the school, which has the capacity for 182. By 2016, however, Stantec is predicting enrolment to be somewhere around 263. Kelly Creek Community and Texada Elementary schools are both under capacity, while Henderson Elementary School is relatively stable.
Strategic timing plays a big role in managing facilities. Skinner singled out the opening of Westview in September of 2012 as perhaps a good opportunity to make some other changes at the same time. He advised the board that that might be the best time to move grade eight students from Oceanview to Brooks and use that building for trades and alternate programs.
“You’re essentially at the point and time now that you need to be thinking hard about Oceanview,” said Skinner. “It’s time to have that discussion.”
He also advised reassessing school boundaries at that point and perhaps making changes to encourage a more equal distribution of students. Parents can choose where to send their children regardless of where they live but redefined boundaries might influence and inform their choice.
Skinner advised the district to keep applying for facilities grant funding, especially for mechanical upgrades to Edgehill, Henderson, James Thomson and Kelly Creek. Funding for seismic upgrading to Henderson should continue to be applied for and money should be sought to build an addition on Edgehill to replace portable classrooms. Skinner applauded the district’s efforts to secure funding from other sources than the ministry of education.
Stantec recommended that the board adopt a statement that endorses the company’s recommendations and incorporate them into the district’s 10-year plan. The board did not pass a motion during the meeting but district Superintendent of Schools Jay Yule did say that Stantec’s recommendations are the main source of information for facilities planning.
