The long-term plan for building a new school in Richmond city centre is included in the latest capital plan to be sent to the Ministry of Education
At its Wednesday meeting, the Richmond Board of Education approved a five-year capital plan and a capital funding proposal to build a new elementary school, both to be forwarded to the Ministry of Education for review.
The school district’s target goal is to acquire a new site by 2032 with the land for the school expected to cost $75 million.
Richmond school chair Sandra Nixon said that while the Richmond School District (SD38) is still a “good 10 years out” from needing a school in the city centre area, having the item on the capital plan gives the Ministry of Education a heads-up.
“The reason it’s on the capital plan … is to signal to the ministry that we are starting to plan for the acquisition of a site,” said Nixon.
Despite hearing that some school districts in B.C. have had their previously approved capital projects deferred, Nixon said they are not concerned for the time being unless it “becomes a longer-term pattern.”
“At the moment, we are not worried about the city centre plan, as this is still a few years out,” said Nixon.
“We also just recently had two seismic projects supported by the ministry and (we) will be working hard to ensure our seismic upgrade continues to move forward, as that is the priority at the moment.”
