Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools has provided a clearer picture on when it intends to re-open Rutherford Elementary School.
The school board voted last June to re-open the school, but without a firm timeline. At the business committee meeting Wednesday, May 17, trustees unanimously approved a recommendation to open doors for the 2025-26 school year. It is contingent on final approval subsequent to an enrolment count this coming fall.
As part of the recommendation, a working group will be formed to take care of issues related to re-opening. Catchment area discussion and a re-opening plan would be among the tasks, and Greg Keller, board chairperson, successfully put foward an amendment to add examination of school programming options in order to ensure the school’s long-term sustainability.
“I think the community has gone through enough challenges with respect to closing and re-opening Rutherford,” he said. “I really want to make sure that, if this is the will of the board this time, that we make sure we have a good process … I’m hopeful we’ll hear from staff on what options we have to consider programming at the school that will attract students to the school to help make it more viable.”
The school was renovated to accommodate students while Pleasant Valley Elementary School was receiving seismic upgrades in 2021. The work included converting part of the library into classroom space, upgrading internet, installing water bottle filling stations, and providing better classroom ventilation. A staff report previews yet-to-be-determined “minor capital alterations [and] improvements,” and estimates that $450,000 will be needed for furniture, equipment and technology. The annual cost of running the school will be approximately $906,000.
The school board approved a motion to expand the international student program in April, which the report suggested could be a way to provide additional money to pay for re-opening. Tuition for the program is $16,400, stated the report, but that includes student support.
While opening for 2024-25 might have been a possibility, more time is better, said Mark Walsh, district secretary-treasurer.
“We could do 2024, but we don’t see the numbers quite supporting it,” he said. “We think there’s time we need to build up the money to make it happen and allow the international program to try its best to expand to support that. It gives us time to consult fully on what the opening would look like and so we think all those factors would support a 2025 opening.”
The staff report suggested no board representative in the working group, something trustees agreed with.
“There’s been so many changes around opening and closing of schools in the past couple of decades that I think it’s good for the community to know that trustees are going to sit back and allow the consultation to be really thoughtful and to allow us to make completely unbiased decisions,” said Charlene McKay, board vice-chairperson.
Rutherford was closed at the end of the 2017-18 school year.
The recommendation will go before the board at its Wednesday, May 24 meeting.
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