Fire damage to a Cranbrook elementary school is estimated in the "tens of millions" while the facility is expected to be out of commission for the next three to five years.
Southeast Kootenay School District officials say that Amy Woodland Elementary School, which was severely damaged by fire in the summer, is being examined by mechanical engineers and other professionals as part of the Ministry's insurance program to determine whether or not the facility can be salvaged.
Nick Taylor, the secretary treasurer with SD5, along with other district staff and school board officials, provided an update on Thursday, Nov. 27, during a public consultation event on proposed changes to the school's catchment boundaries for incoming Kindergarten students.
"The process is almost out of our hands and lies with the school's protection plan and the Ministry of Education to the point where I don't even get access to the cost reports or mechanical engineering reports or things like this," said Taylor. "I get to hear about it from the school protection plan from the Ministry of Education and so it's almost like we're being kept at arms length a little bit, for better or worse.
"Through the grapevine, we've heard tens of millions of dollars worth of damage once you start factoring bringing a 1958 building back up to modern code, which puts us in a difficult position."
On June 30th, firefighters responded to a fire on the gymnasium roof of the school. Taylor said the interior gym doors were propped open and that there was "significant" smoke damage throughout the facility.
SD5 officials are hoping to have some indication of where things stand with the ministry by early next year after the throne speech in February or the provincial budget in early March.
The three to five year closure timeline is based on the district's experience in getting a new school into Fernie due to capacity pressures on Isabella Dicken Elementary School — a process that formally began in 2018 and had an unfortunately timed provincial announcement just after the Amy Woodland fire.
Doug McPhee, SD5 board chair, defended the lengthy closure timeline and said he had a meeting with newly-appointed Education Minister Lisa Beare earlier that day to advocate for an Amy Woodland refurbishment or replacement.
"If we got the royal nod tomorrow, it would take at least three years in order for us to open the doors," McPhee said, raising process timelines that include design work, funding approval and construction.
McPhee also said he put in a plug for a Mount Baker Secondary School replacement, a 70-year-old facility that has been a long-time priority for the district and also raised concerns about school infrastructure in rural communities threatened by wildfire as well as a need for more education assistants and support staff.
He also extended an invitation to Minister Beare to come to Cranbrook for a first-hand look at the situation.
While financial impacts to refurbishing or replacing Amy Woodland are unknown at this time, the recently announced new school in Fernie has a $33 million price tag.
The district did have conversations about potentially acquiring a vacant building, such as the old Canadian Tire location, however, that was not a viable financial option. Using portables on existing school properties also comes with a hefty cost, as one portable fully loaded out for education purposes runs about $600,000.
When asked what the public can do to help advocate for a new school, McPhee encouraged people to contact Kootenay-Rockies MLA Pete Davis to take the campaign to Victoria.
Beyond the updates to the facility itself, SD5 officials and staff also spoke about proposed changes to the Amy Woodland's catchment boundaries for incoming Kindergarten students and sought feedback from those in attendance, which was held at the district office and virtually online.
There are two proposals on the table to divide up the Amy Woodland catchment into five zones, with kindergarten students being funnelled to a different school based on their street address. The major difference between the two proposals is using either 11th Ave S or 14th Ave S as a zone boundary.
The meeting also evolved into a larger conversation about parents who are dealing with multiple kids in different schools, and cohort continuity as students graduate into middle school.
For example, Amy Woodland is in the Laurie Middle School catchment, while Gordon Terrace is in the Parkland Middle School catchment. As it currently stands, any displaced Amy Woodland students attending Gordon Terrace will be graduating into Laurie Middle School as opposed to joining their elementary school peers in Parkland Middle School.
Given the timeline for the closure of Amy Woodland, there was some talk about amending all Cranbrook catchment boundaries for all grade levels, however, district officials noted that would potentially affect every single family and student attending any school facility in the city, as opposed to those affected by the Amy Woodland closure.
The city's catchment boundaries were recently updated earlier this year in January, before the school fire.
There was some talk around the table of setting up and sending out an informal survey, but district officials are also encouraging the public to reach out with any feedback about the catchment boundary proposals.
In terms of process, the district is hoping to incorporate any public feedback into board discussions in December and have a finalized option ready by February 2025.
Anyone interested in providing feedback to the school district can do so via email at cbo.mailing@sd5.bc.ca
