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School District 72 adopts new 10-year Long Range Facility plan

School District 72 adopts the 2025-35 Long Range Facility Plan
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Replacing Cedar Elementary is still a top capital project priority for School District 72. Mirror File Photo

School District 72 (SD72) discussed its Long Range Facility Plan during a board meeting on Jan. 14.

"This important document outlines the future needs and priorities for our district's facilities. We hope this plan will help to continue to raise awareness with government regarding infrastructure and support our case for rebuilding Cedar Elementary, the aging infrastructure in our region is an ongoing challenge and we will continue to advocate the government for the necessary funding to address these issues and ensure our students have the safe modern learning environments they deserve," said Kat Eddy, board chair.

The district started working on the plan in 2024 and set a deadline for completion this month during a board meeting on Dec. 19, 2023.

"The long-range facility plan is kind of the base for how we get all of our capital projects, and quite simply described, it is to make sure that the Ministry (of Education and Child Care) is not going to invest in a project that we apply for when in two or three years, we're going to close that building," said Kevin Patrick, secretary-treasurer. "That has happened, and that's what initiated and made the requirement that the school districts need to have a 10-year facility plan that accompanies and supports or at least doesn't contradict what is being asked for."

SD72 enlisted the help of Studio Hub, a consulting firm, to help lead the district through the plan. Patrick said they led the engagement and research along with the planning committee. He also mentioned that Studio Hub took a very student-focused approach. Studio Hub also made sure the 10-year plan was aligned with the district's 2024-28 strategic plan and also looks to address enrolment projections, delivering education in aging/older schools that do not meet current educational needs (such as support, safe and culturally relevant spaces) and serving remote and island schools. 

The plan has recommendations divided into three categories: short-term (one year), mid-term (two to five years), and long-term (five or more years).

Some short-term recommendations include opportunities for universal washroom renovations in various schools, creating outdoor learning spaces, advocating for the replacement of Cedar Elementary, and more.

The district has 13 elementary schools, two middle schools, two secondary schools, and one alternate learning centre (Robron). In addition, SD72 also has a board office, operations centre, and Cedar Annex (adjacent to Cedar Elementary and leased to the Laichwitlach Family Life Society). The report separates the schools into three families: Remote, Campbell River North, and Campbell River South. 

The Long Range Plan uses the Facility Condition Index (FCI). The FCI scores the condition of a facility in comparison to other facilities. The lower the score, the better the condition. The average school in BC has a score of 0.45, and the average lifespan of buildings is 50 years. The district's average age of existing buildings is 50. 

Out of the 24 facilities within SD72 (including schools, the board office, bus garage, and maintenance buildings), five are between 50-60 years of age, four are between 60 and 70 years, and three are over 70. 

The report says the district has done "an amazing" job maintaining the older buildings, with the average FCI across all facilities in 2024 being 0.60. 

Only one facility (Robron) had a rating between 0.00 and 0.29. Eleven facilities were between 0.30 to 0.60, while 12 were in the 0.61 to 1.00,  meaning they are in poor condition. Oyster River Elementary had the highest score at 0.81. Discovery Passage Elementary was second-highest with 0.77.

"The most remarkable thing looking at the last 10-year facility plan to this one, is the FCI condition index, without any schools, has improved," said Patrick. 

The plan also mentions Campbell River's continued growth and enrolment projections. Enrolment projections were developed using the Barager System, meetings with the  City of Campbell River's planning department, meetings with SD72 senior leadership, reviewing data, and direct observation of ongoing/future development areas. 

The projections for the next 10 years for the Remote School Family predict that enrolment will decline to 217 by 2032. The actual enrolment for 2024 is 242. It predicts an increase in the 2025 school year with 256 students before declining. 

The schools in the North are also predicted to see a loss, with 2339 students by 2032. In the 2024-25 school year, schools have a total of 2415 students enrolled. Carihi Secondary School's student enrolment is predicted to increase to more than 900 students every year except 2027. Currently, 870 students are enrolled. 

Like the others, schools in the South family also have predicted a decline. 

With the families combined, enrolment predictions for the 2032-33 school year see a total of 5169 students compared to today's 5349. The district's operating capacity is 6,191.

Ripple Rock, Georgia Park, and Ocean Grove have all been recommended for catchment review, mostly due to housing growth. Ocean Grove, however, is already operating over capacity and has four portables. 

"The Campbell River area is clearly expanding its housing and commercial real estate inventory, and people are moving to the region," reads the plan. "Up until now, however, that population growth has not translated into a growth of school-age children, and the Barager projections for the next 10 years do not yet indicate any meaningful growth either." 

The report goes on to say it's hard to quantify why that is, even though the average age of Campbell River (45.7) is lower than the 2021 census for Courtenay (46.7) or the Comox Regional District (47.7). The Comox region has recently had an "explosive" growth for K to Grade 12 enrolment. 

One explanation, according to the plan, is that there is a large transient population in Campbell River due to the resource and tourism industry-based economy. 

However, the plan is that some things happening can trigger more enrolment, such as projects in First Nations (economic and housing projects) and the unaffordability and rising costs of housing in the Lower Mainland, Nanaimo and Comox.

One of the key challenges of the plan is the replacement of Cedar Elementary, which is one of the schools in the poorest condition in the province, despite having some recent renovations lowering the FCI score of 0.78 to 0.68. However, these renovations did not address the largest concerns for the building, which included poor air quality and design. The plan asks for continued advocacy for a replacement, that the district complete a detailed PRFS report to demonstrate the immediate need for replacement, and the investigation for the potential opportunity for on-site integration of community support services. 

The board adopted the plan as submitted. The full plan will be available on the district's website at some time.