A long-range facilities plan for School District 57 recommends the closure of six schools, including Giscome Elementary School, as well as of the Central Interior Distance Education School in the short-term.
The closure of Giscome Elementary School, which has 10 students this year, and the CIDES, located within the John MacInnes Centre, are up for discussion at the board of education’s Feb. 13 meeting.
According to the agenda for the meeting, the board of education recently reviewed a 2024-25 to 2033-34 long range facilities plan at a Jan. 28 committee of the whole meeting.
A copy of that report available on the district’s website recommends these closures in that time frame due to a projected 1,200-student decrease in enrolment by 2033:
- Van Bien Elementary School, with students distributed between Ron Brent and College Heights elementary schools,
- Hixon Elementary School, with resources amalgamated with Buckhorn Elementary School,
- Giscome Elementary School, with resources amalgamated with Blackburn Elementary School,
- Morfee Elementary School in Mackenzie, with resources amalgamated with Mackenzie Secondary School to create a K-12 school,
- McBride Centennial Elementary with resources amalgamated with McBride Secondary School to create a K-12 school and
- Valemount Elementary School, with resources amalgamated with Valemount Secondary School to create a single K-12 school.
A condition assessment list of all SD57 school lists Valemount Elementary, Van Bien, Hixon in “deficient” conditions and McBride Centennial and Morfee in “poor” condition.
Giscome is considered in “good” condition. Construction on the current building started in April 2013 and finished in 2024. It consists of two modular buildings being connected to combination gymnasium and activity centre.
The report defines deficient schools as having a high risk of failure of most of its system. Poor schools have a high risk of failure of some systems. Good schools meet all present requirements.
A timeline for the school closures is not provided in the report and is supposed to be included a future feasibility analysis.
However, reports scheduled for discussion at the Feb. 13 board meeting address the potential closures of both Giscome and CIDES.
The first report suggests closing Giscome effective June 30 of this year. The second suggests closing CIDES the same day, but support would be offered to students by staff until Jan. 31, 2026.
In the current school year, there are 10 students at Giscome. Next school year, an enrolment of four to seven students is projected.
Should the board of education vote to consider the closure of Giscome at the meeting, it would trigger a 60-day period of public consultation before a final decision can be made.
However, for CIDES, it is officially considered a program and not a school and does not require the board’s policy on public consultation to be followed.
Despite attendance restrictions for in-catchment students at overcapacity schools that went into place last year, four schools are estimated to remain over capacity by 2023: Springwood, Heritage, Peden Hill and Wanway.
For that reason, the report also recommends that a maximum cap on kindergarten intake be placed at these schools with excess students redirected to overflow schools.
As of 2024, Beaverly Elementary, Southridge Elementary, Vanway Elementary, College Heights Secondary, Ron Brent Elementary, Heritage Elementary, D.P. Todd Secondary, Peden Hill Elementary, Glenview Elementary, Hart Highlands Elementary and Springwood Elementary were considered overcapacity.
By comparison, College Heights Elementary, Malaspina Elementary, Harwin Elementary, École Lac des Bois, Duchess Park Secondary, Edgewood Elementary, Foothills Elementary, Quinson Elementary, Spruceland Community School of the Arts, Nusdeh Yoh Elementary, Pineview Elementary, Pinewood Elementary, Van Bien Elementary, Westwood Elementary, Polaris Montessori Elementary, Blackburn Elementary, Buckhorn Elementary, Hixon Elementary, Prince George Secondary School, École Heather Park Elementary, Nukko Lake Elementary, Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary, Morfee Elementary, Mackenzie Secondary, McBride Centennial, McBride Secondary, Valemount Elementary and Valemount Secondary are all considered undercapacity.
This is determined by comparing a school’s enrolment to its nominal capacity, which is defined as needing instructional space for 20 students per classroom for kindergarten classes and 25 students per classroom for Grades 1 through 12.
