Stuart Wood decision expected in June but staff says closure option is still the best

By MIKE YOUDS

Maintaining Stuart Wood elementary as a heritage school without extensive renovations is not a viable option, school trustees were told at their regular meeting Monday night.

Trustees had their chance to respond to a district report on the reconfiguration of the downtown school, Beattie School of the Arts and the John Peterson building based on changing enrolment patterns. The district will report back with answers to their questions and hopes the board can arrive at a decision by the end of the school year.

Superintendent Terry Sullivan reduced the complex equation to four options, including the status quo, but he doesn’t think that one is realistic.

“We have a legal obligation to provide access to people with disabilities to that school, which we are not doing,” Sullivan said.

The 107-year-old school needs a new gymnasium, an elevator and upgraded fire escapes to enable use of its third floor. Even if the district were to spend the money to bring the building into compliance, it would have to maintain the historic integrity of the building, he said.

“That would require considerable engineering and money. I don’t think it’s an option to leave it as it is.”

The report on proposed changes traces the chronology of the issue over the past year. Although he’s cited four options, “there may be others the board wants us to look at,” Sullivan said.

The other options on the table: Leave Stuart Wood as it is and move Beattie students to JP; renovate Stuart Wood and move Beattie students to JP; or, renovate JP to accommodate Beattie students, move Stuart Wood students to Beattie and return Stuart Wood to the City, which owns the building.

Transportation – busing displaced Stuart Wood students to Beattie School of the Arts if it were consolidated with the JP campus – was one concern raised by trustees. Sullivan said any changes won’t be implemented until September 2016, leaving two years to consult with parents if need be.

If Stuart Wood school is closed, there would be no English-language school in the city’s downtown area, which raises concerns, said trustee Annette Glover. She said she sees a parallel with the controversial 2010 decision to close schools in rural areas.

“I am struggling with that,” Glover said.

Sullivan said urban planning is beyond the expertise of the district.

“It’s certainly beyond my expertise to be asked to take that kind of thing on,” Glover said. “At the same time, we’re responsible to the taxpayer and have a responsibility to do our best. Would Beattie (in place of Stuart Wood) be sufficient?”

City planners might be able to answer that question, Sullivan said.

Trustee Kathleen Karpuk noted that the City is considering installing a traffic light at 11th Avenue and Columbia to accommodate a possible increase in students going to the JP campus.

Declining enrolment and a new provincial requirement that districts fund 50 per cent of new capital projects mean that it won’t be a simple matter to obtain additional funds for Stuart Wood’s renovation, Sullivan said.

“That could make construction of a new South Kamloops secondary very unlikely in the near future,” he said.

Trustee Gerald Watson suggested revisiting a 2010 reconfiguration report to see if there are any money-saving solutions that could resolve some of the issues.