School District 83 trustees are holding a special meeting on Wednesday, May 12, to discuss the Long Range Facilities Plan.
According to a May 10 post on the school district’s website, the meeting will take place online between 5 and 7 p.m., and will focus particularly on Salmon Arm. There will be a public question and answer period at the end of the meeting.
At the April school board meeting, trustees wrestled with the two options on the table for the reconfiguration of Salmon Arm schools, and chose to add a third.
Public concerns raised prior to the meeting revolved around what the options propose for Salmon Arm’s high schools and the middle school. Option E4 offers two Grade 7-9 middle school campuses, Shuswap Middle School (SMS) and J.L. Jackson, with Sullivan becoming a 10-12 secondary school. With Option E5, SMS continues to offer grades 6-8, with Jackson and Sullivan serving as Grade 9-12 secondary schools.
In response to feedback from the public, including Jackson students, regarding disparities between the Jackson and Sullivan campuses, board chair Amanda Krebs suggested another option, E6, that proposes making SMS and Sullivan the Grade 9-12 schools and Jackson the Grade 6-8 middle school.
E6 also includes South Canoe Elementary remaining Kindergarten to Grade 8.
Option E4 is estimated to cost up to $4.5 million and, according to the school district, will require “many portables” at the Sullivan campus to address challenges with student capacity. Option E5 would cost about $1 million and comes with capacity pressures at SMS.
Login instructions for the May 10 meeting, as well as more information about the Long Range Facilities Plan, are available online at sd83.bc.ca.
Read more: School District 83 adds new option for Salmon Arm schools
Read more: School trustees leaning towards two Grade 9-12 campuses in Salmon Arm
lachlan@saobserver.net
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