The Garden Valley School Division’s latest five-year capital plan was passed at this week’s Board of Trustees meeting. The division’s focus remains on maintaining and upgrading existing facilities, as it continues to balance aging infrastructure with growing enrolment pressures.
Board Chair Leah Klassen says, “Way back in the day, the only thing that was on our capital plan were new schools. And so that was the singular item on that list… But as we have our new schools, now we need to maintain and update them.”
Priorities
Among the top priorities is the replacement of the gym at Winkler Elementary School, with building envelopes, including exterior walls and windows.
Klassen also pointed to ongoing system replacements as part of routine but costly infrastructure upkeep.
While larger capital requests go to the province, Klassen notes the board also occasionally funds projects internally when provincial funding is not approved.
Superintendent Dan Ward says that across the division’s 14 schools, the need for maintenance is ongoing and unavoidable.
“You never really get to the end of the list in terms of maintenance… and when we look at our 14 schools, you see a lot of the same things in terms of mechanical systems, in terms of scheduled roof replacements…”
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Funding
Ward says the division maintains both a capital list submitted to the province and its own internal maintenance priorities.
“We’re hoping for funding, because the province owns the buildings, and they take care of the big projects, by and large.”
Despite the long list of required upgrades, Ward says the overall condition of facilities across the division remains strong.
“All of our buildings are in good shape. When you look at our 14 schools, I mean, we really are quite blessed here in Garden Valley.”
Even in the face of work that seemingly never ends, Ward adds that compared to many other divisions, Garden Valley’s mix of newer and older schools helps ease some of that pressure.
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