By Dale Bass
Kamloops This Week
Sun Peaks could be home to a new school in the coming years.
In a report headed to the Kamloops-Thompson board of education on Monday, Mayor Al Raine recommends a four-step program to determine where a school might be built and what it might look like.
The community education plan was prepared for the community by Anne Cooper, a former superintendent with the Revelstoke school district.
The plan notes there are 54 students attending the school now in place on Sundance Drive. While enrolment was flat last year, this year there are 14 students in senior grades learning through the school district’s @KOOL distance-learning program, more than had been forecast for the 2018-2019 school year.
The elementary program has seen families move to Sun Peaks, the report notes, and if that cohort continues to grow, more classrooms will be needed, something the current building cannot accommodate.
The report said Sun Peaks has an agreement with the provincial government that would allow it to use some Crown lands on the mountain and Raine is confident a site can be found for an expanded elementary school.
He is asking trustees to approve and implement preparation of a draft community plan that would be used to start a discussion on the project, not only with parents of students at the school, but with Sun Peaks’ other residents and with potential partners and funders.
The next step would be to consult with parents, the community and partners on what a school might look like — should it be a kindergarten to Grade 7, Grade 9 or Grade 12?
The third phase would be to use feedback to complete a community plan, followed by implementation, which would include capital planning and formalizing partnerships.