Sooke School District seeks funding, ‘creative’ solution to address overcrowding in high schools

The Sooke School District is seeking provincial funding to address overcrowding in area high schools.

The Sooke School District is expecting to soon hear provincial feedback on its pitch to address student growth in a pair of West Shore secondary schools. It includes a request to build 20 prefabricated classrooms on a site near Royal Bay Secondary School that was bought for a future elementary site.

“We came to this decision because we have to be creative. We don’t really have a choice,” says SD62 superintendent Paul Block.

According to the district, Langford’s Belmont Secondary was built for 1,200 students and is now overcapacity by 500 students. Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood is also experiencing capacity issues. It was built for 1,400 students and has more than 1,700 enrolled.

“I’m not surprised. There’s so many new houses,” says Elizabeth McKnight, who was visiting the Royal Bay neighbourhood from Saanich.

“It’s actually very crazy to see how well developed this park came up and how busy it got,” says Langford father, Gino Nguyen, while playing with his daughter at Meadow Park playground. “It’s awesome for little kids.”

The Sooke School District’s superintendent says the plan to build the 20 prefabricated classrooms would surprisingly be cheaper than installing portables.

The elementary site on Quarry Street would serve as a satellite campus to address the overflow at Royal Bay – while the district waits on the construction of North Langford Secondary. Then the space could be freed up and returned for the use of the future elementary school.

“It’s much better than portables, because these prefabricated classrooms are 21st-century modern spaces that we’re really pleased with,” says Block. “From many perspectives, it makes a lot of sense. The reality is that fiscally our government is tightening its belt right now and looking to the future. So we are just hoping that this priority project remains a priority for the provincial government as much as it does for the Sooke School District,” he adds.

The district’s request is budgeted at $30 million. The superintendent says, should the ask not be granted, it has other options. One of them could be moving to what’s called an “extended day” program, where the district could add an hour to the school day to offset the inflow of students.

“I think what’s really important like all things when we have a change coming: That we communicate that change, why that change is necessary and how we’re going to do that. And we’re not there yet,” he says.

B.C.’s Ministry of Infrastructure tells CTV News it’s considering SD62’s capital plan as part of the annual capital planning process. It says the outcome will be known through Budget 2025.

“We’re not going to have less people, especially to this gem of the planet,” says Colwood resident, Tony Sousa. “Instead of planning ahead, they wait until afterwards and then try to fix it.”

SD62’s superintendent says it remains the fastest growing school district in the province, which continues to push the need for capital projects and creative solutions in schools.