Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education advocates for capital priorities with its long-range facilities plan

Photo: Contributed

Kamloops Thompson Bord of Education trustee Kathleen Karpuk

Kamloops has a number of schools that are bursting at the seams.

In Sun Peaks, every student is taught in a portable. The majority of schools in the district were built in the 1960s and 1970s and are expected to need replacement within the next 20 years.

The last new school built in Kamloops because of enrolment increases was Pacific Way Elementary.

Each year, school district staff prepare a long-range facilities plan that identifies where new schools and additions are needed, what schools need to be replaced, where significant renovations are needed and where property needs to be purchased. The report looks at enrolment projections across the district (which stretches from Blue River to Logan Lake and from Chase and Westwold to Savona). The condition of school buildings and how much space may be in neighbouring schools is also looked at.

District staff work with municipalities to determine what type of development is happening and where in order to predict where additional population growth is likely to occur. Information about birth rates, immigration and economic factors also inform the report.

In Kamloops, there are eight schools that are significantly over capacity (more than 120% of capacity)—Sa-Hali Secondary, Ralph Bell Elementary, Westmount Elementary, Beattie Elementary, McGowan Park Elementary, Dufferin Elementary, Pacific Way Elementary, and Aberdeen Elementary.

While the opening of Sníne Elementary in 2026 will mitigate some of the overcrowding in the south-west sector of Kamloops, the impact is expected to be temporary, with many schools remaining over capacity.

Of significant concern is overcrowding at Sa-Hali Secondary, which is predicted to be at 160% of capacity in the next 10 years. The school site has limited capacity for adding portables. Modern portables are much more comfortable and functional than earlier versions but they lack washroom facilities and cannot function as anything but a regular classroom. That means specialized classrooms for science, home economics and trades are limited in availability within course schedules.

The latest long-range facilities plan identifies a number of projects to address overcrowding and aging buildings, including:

• A new secondary school in Aberdeen — The Ministry of Education and Child Care recently assisted the district in purchasing a site for that new secondary school.

• An elementary school in Juniper West.

• A K-12 school in Sun Peaks.

• Two new elementary schools in Aberdeen.

Other priorities identified by the district include replacement of eight schools due to age and increased repair costs and two additional school sites in Aberdeen. The district currently has a business case for an elementary school in Batchelor Heights that is in the project definition report process with the ministry.

The district recently received a Crown grant that will enable that project to move to the next step in the approval process.

While the district has identified significant needs for additional schools, school sites and school replacements, funding and timelines are completely dependent on funding from the provincial government. School districts do not have the ability to build new schools without approval from the ministry and the Treasury Board, meaning projects from other areas of the province may receive higher priority for funding, delaying needed facilities here in the Kamloops-Thompson School District.

The board of education continues to lobby for new schools, school sites and school replacements through ongoing meetings and communication with the education minister, members of Treasury Board, our five MLAs and other government officials.

We also work closely with municipal and regional governments, such as the City of Kamloops and the Thompson Nicola Regional District to advocate for building stronger communities.

Kathleen Karpuk is a trustee on the Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education.