The Chair of Quesnel’s Board of Education says the replacement of Quesnel Junior School is no longer a priority with the Ministry of Education.
Tony Goulet says they received a letter saying the provincial government is no longer going to consider the project.
As for why Goulet says he can only speculate…
“Because they’re not in a seismic upgrade. We have a decline in enrollment and we’re under in funding protection, so we’re not a priority for them.”
“That’s concerning for me as it should be a priority.”
The Board has been told for years now that the replacement of the school was the top priority on a list that was separate from seismic upgrades.
Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes meanwhile says the provincial government requires an updated plan from the School District before the replacement of Quesnel Junior School can be put back onto a list of priorities.
“Are we looking at the replacement of the high school, which I believe obviously is desperately needed? Is the middle school the better option in having that transition? Is it better to put it in Correlieu?”
“There’s a number of options that when we sat down and had this conversation, this was the type of dialogue that we had.”
Oakes adds that the challenge right now is that there are a couple of projects that the School District has brought forward.
She says she would be happy to sit down with the Board and look at how they can get back on top of the list with a collaborative approach.