Sooke School District gets provincial funding for 2 elementary school expansions

Ruth King Elementary School in the heart of Langford is currently 125 per cent over capacity.

“I became the principal in 2018 and there was 285 students. We’re now at 459,” said principal Vicki Ives.

This year, the school grew by three full classes. Two more portables were brought in as well, bringing the school's total to four.

Now the province says relief is on its way.

“Today we are supporting two new school additions here in fast-growing Langford,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care.

Ruth King Elementary School and David Cameron Elementary School will both see a 190-seat expansion.

The price tag for the projects is $24 million, funded through a special injection of dollars outside of the school district's regular funding cycle.

“We are shooting for September of 2024,” said Paul Block, deputy superintendent of the Sooke School District. “We already have a RFP in place and we’ll be moving through that process.”

“We hope to be hitting the ground in January, actually working on construction.”

It’s an ambitious goal of completing both school expansions within the next 10 months.

The reason the province and the school district are confident about meeting the deadline is the expansion will utilize pre-fabricated construction.

“I actually was the principlal that opened the pre-fabricated school in Sandspit, Haida Gwaii, and that school is amazing,” said Ives. "It’s just really like a building, it’s not like a portable at all.”

David Cameron Elementary School in Colwood will receive funding for a 190-seat expansion. (CTV News)

The Sooke School District had three new schools on its priority list for capital funding in the coming years – two new elementary schools and a new secondary school.

“The announcement today for the pre-fabricated buildings really helps us with the elementary piece,” said Block.

The expansion will take pressure off of the overcapacity issues in the district's elementary school system.

With that in mind, the district will now focus on securing capital funding through the province next year for a new secondary school on the north side of the Island Highway in Langford. It will be built on land that the district already secured.

“Hopefully we can land that this March,” said Block.

With the school district projected to grow by 500 to 600 new students per year over the next six years, these expansions will help. More funding will need to come if the province and the school district hope to meet that ongoing demand.