About $81.5 million in building renovations and upgrades have been approved by the Sea to Sky School District.
Should the province also give the green light to this five-year-capital plan, it could mean some big changes for local schools throughout the corridor. Most noticeably, facilities will be able to accommodate more students.
“We have done quite a bit of analysis this year on the best direction to go for future planning for the school, for specifically how we're going to address the growth that we're experiencing in our region,” said Ian Currie, director of operations for facilities.
For starters, the plan states that authorities are hoping to give Howe Sound Secondary something of a makeover.
Currently able to accommodate 675 students, a proposed expansion would allow it to house 1,225 people, while also giving the building seismic upgrades.
The renovation, Currie said, would involve tearing down old parts of the school and creating new areas that would accommodate more students.
He chose that option because aging parts of the building if they stayed, would have to be seismically upgraded. Pouring cash into “decrepit” parts of the facility would be a poor choice, he said.
“That doesn't make a lot of sense,” Currie said.
“The one that makes sense it to demo[lish] and rebuild those wings and increase our capacity.”
Arrangements have been made to house students during renovations. There won't be any need to put them in portables because their current classrooms would be used while new ones are being constructed in other parts of the property.
The two areas at Howe Sound that will be destroyed and rebuilt are the shop and science wings.
First, the new shop wing will be built next to the gym. When it's finished, students will move to the new area and the existing shop wing will be demolished.
A new science wing will be built where the existing shop wing is located, and once the new build is completed, students will move to the new area and the old science wing will be destroyed.
The total price tag would amount to about $37.2 million for that project.
In Squamish, other capacity increases are also planned.
About $5.4 million proposed for Squamish Elementary would allow the school to house 610 students, up from 440.
Don Ross Middle School would receive $6.1 million to increase capacity to 925, up from 600 students. Work on a biomass boiler for the facility would cost an additional $400,000. Heating and ventilation upgrades for the school are expected to cost an extra $700,000.
About $1.53 million would be given for building envelope upgrades for Garibaldi Highlands Elementary.
There are also various other maintenance costs that would apply to schools across town.
Out of Squamish, perhaps the biggest highlight would be the construction of a new Whistler middle school.
That new build would house 425 students and cost $26.3 million.
The proposal for middle school was made after community consultation, Currie said.
“The community and staff and everyone was in favour of the new middle school,” he said. “It helps us the most in the long run.”
Altogether, costs for all maintenance and renovations around the entire Sea to Sky School District outlined in this plan are expected to add up to $81.5 million over the next five years.
“Hopefully we hear back from [the Ministry of Education] that we will be receiving some of that funds,” said trustee Ian Kent, who chairs the school board's finance committee.
The Sea to Sky School District also approved its annual facility grant.
This document outlines how the school district will be spending about $923,000 of provincial grant money intended for more immediate school facility projects.
The board decided the money would go to improving lighting, water heaters, flooring and parking lots, among other things.
