The announcement of a six-classroom addition to Wellington Secondary last week was welcome news, but school district officials still seek a new Nanaimo District Secondary School.
The Wakesiah Avenue high school, built in 1952, is projected to accommodate 1,620 students in 2024-25 based on numbers from last year, according to Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools. NDSS is built for 1,400 students and can accommodate 1,550 with portables, said the district, which added that "secondary schools can function slightly above their capacities."
Mark Walsh, district secretary-treasurer, told the News Bulletin that advocacy efforts for a new NDSS are ongoing.
"The reality is that ND is mainly a seismic project and I don't think there's enough money in the overall seismic pot that ND was able to be supported, given it's well over a $100-million project, and so our board is working incredibly hard to lobby for that," said Walsh. "We will be submitting again this year for that replacement, but we won't hear until next spring."
The district and the B.C. ministry of education announced the pre-fabricated addition at Wellington on Aug. 30, which will add space for another 150 students there. The B.C. government said it was part of its plans to expand schools faster, but Walsh said that strategy wouldn't be applicable for NDSS.
"If we're going to be rebuilding the facility, you'd hope that we're going to be building it sufficiently large to meet its needs," he said. "What we might end up looking at is a section that could be pre-fabbed if it needs to be expanded at a future point, like other schools have done. However, if we're going to build ND to 1,550, or 1,600, let's build … it that big."
B.C.'s Ministry of Education and Child Care didn't provide information on the status of a new NDSS in an e-mail, but said there is currently $1.1 billion in additional funding set aside for "high-risk seismic projects" in its three-year capital plan. School districts must submit five-year capital plans to the ministry yearly, "including prioritization based on their enrolment needs."
The ministry stated it is committed to working with the district to review its capital plan submissions and " deliver on building and improving schools."
Whenever it gets built, a new NDSS will not only provide 1,600-something seats, but ones that are also seismically safe, explained Walsh.
"From an educational, modern-education functioning perspective, it would also be huge and in reality, ND's old, it's got some fundamental aspects that we're not going to be able to fix," he said. "So a new school is going to create safety, positive educational outcomes for kids, and of course, our enrolment issues as well would be addressed."
Schools receiving seismic upgrade work recently include Dover Bay Secondary, École Hammond Bay Elementary, Cilaire Elementary and Pleasant Valley Elementary schools, said the ministry.
