Seeking a larger school

The region’s school district is stepping up to the plate again and swinging for the fence on a major multi-million-dollar capital plan submission to the Province.

Since 2018, School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) board of education has annually submitted a plan for the expansion of the Salmo Secondary School in order to build additional space at the school to accommodate Salmo’s elementary-school-aged students in a larger Salmo elementary and secondary school combination.

Cathy MacArthur, SD8 interim secretary-treasurer, submitted a report on the expansion proposal late last month, which was approved by trustees of the board of education for the annual Ministry of Education and Child Care (MoECC) submission for major capital requests for the next school year.

MacArthur said the proposed expansion was also outlined in the SD8 2021 Long-Range Facilities Plan.

The impetus for combining the two schools is Salmo Elementary School is the only elementary school serving the Village of Salmo and the surrounding area, MacArthur stated.

“There are no changes to catchment boundaries or alternate locations that would provide an alternate location for education elementary-school age children in the area,” she said.

In the proposed expansion plan, eight additional classrooms would be added to accommodate grades K-7 at an estimated cost of $18,702,875.

“Currently, SD8 upgrades Salmo Elementary School using funding from the annual facility grant and the operating grant to ensure a suitable learning environment is maintained for the students,” MacArthur explained in her report.

The major capital request was approved by the board for submission to the Province.