Bulging elementary schools are forcing the Cowichan Valley school district to look at reconfiguring its north end schools.
There may be further changes coming in other parts of the Valley but district officials are making their way systematically through all areas, starting with Chemainus and Crofton, the so-called North Zone.
The Board of Education has to look at the significant growth being reported in both Chemainus and Crofton elementary schools. This, along with the restoration of teacher class size and composition language means both schools operating over capacity with the addition of portables.
Currently four divisions are in portables at Chemainus Elementary, and Crofton Elementary has two divisions in portables and one in the multi-purpose room.
District secretary-treasurer Jason Sandquist explains, “The population trend cannot be accommodated within the two elementary schools in future years without the purchase and installation of additional portables. Continuing with the addition of portables adds classroom space but does not address the needs for additional parking, gymnasium space, washroom facilities, storage, and library access.”
The school board identified in the summer of 2018 that a series of community meetings would be required to work through the options for managing the enrolment growth in the North Zone.
Trustees met with the Chemainus and Crofton communities on Jan. 12, and 29, and Feb. 19 and then considered the feedback.
Sandquist said, “The presentations to date have included student enrolment estimates for future years and the corresponding classroom demands. These projections have utilized the historical population trends included above. While there are no guarantees, a detailed analysis predicts that the enrolments will continue to increase in both communities.”
The North Zone conversation is the first in a series of meetings that the Board intends to hold within the school district. While the South and Central Zone conversations have not yet occurred, staff are currently projecting the need for three additional portables next year to address the growth in these areas. If the Grade 7 programs from both Chemainus Elementary and Crofton Elementary were to move to Chemainus Secondary, three portables would be surplus at Chemainus Elementary and could be relocated to other parts of the school district, he explained.
Before a new school can be built, all schools in the area must be at capacity, according to education ministry guidelines.
However, Chemainus Secondary currently is operating at 55 per cent occupancy so the ministry will not consider any application for capital funding, according to Sandquist.
Including the Grade 7 and potentially Grade 6 programs at Chemainus Secondary would allow for the creation of a Grade 7/8 or Grade 6/7/8 middle-years program specifically designed to meet the developmental learning needs of that age group.
One of the things that this allows for is that students would have access to exploratories (i.e. woodshop, home economics, drama, art, etc.) by specialist teachers, without requiring them to be in a typical secondary timetable.
Information related to the community conversations can be found on the School District’s website at https://sd79.bc.ca/chemainus-and- crofton-community-conversation- follow-up/
So, what’s to be done?
The board has a number of options, according to Sandquist.
1. Relocate the Grade 7 programs from Chemainus and Crofton Elementary schools to Chemainus Secondary beginning in the 2019/2020 school year. With this option, Chemainus Elementary School would still require that one class be housed in a portable, and Crofton Elementary School would reclaim their multi-purpose room and would still require two portables. This would free up three portables.
2. Relocate the Grade 6 and 7 programs from Chemainus and Crofton Elementary schools to Chemainus Secondary beginning in the 2019/2020 school year. With this option, Chemainus Elementary School would not require any portables in the next five years and would operate with 16 divisions, which is the number for which the facility was designed. Crofton Elementary would reduce to one portable classroom and reclaim the multi-purpose room, with a second portable classroom required in a couple of years. This would free up five portables.
3. Relocate the Grade 7 program from Chemainus and Crofton Elementary schools to Chemainus Secondary beginning in 2019/2020 and the Grade 6 program in the 2020/2021 school year. With this option, an additional year would be provided to prepare next year’s grade 6s for a transition. With this option, Chemainus Elementary School would not require any portables in the next five years and would operate with 16 divisions, which is the number for which the facility was designed. Crofton Elementary would reduce to one portable classroom and reclaim the multi-purpose room with a second portable classroom required in a couple of years. This would free up five portables.
4. Maintain the current K to 7 configurations at Chemainus and Crofton Elementary schools. This option would require that the Board continue its expenditure in portable classrooms. It is estimated that by 2023/2024 a total of 13 portables would be required: seven portables at Chemainus Elementary, and six portables at Crofton Elementary.