School District No. 46 is one step closer to implementing its Gibsons Neighbourhood Learning Centre (NLC) proposal, which was presented to the Ministry of Education recently.
Doug Stewart, of the capital management branch of the ministry, said staff would continue to work closely with the school district to come up with a project agreement to move the plan forward.
"We look forward to the continuing development of this important project for Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast community," Stewart wrote in a letter to SD46.
The plan was created through extensive consultation with the Gibsons community and shows three priorities for an NLC that would be included in the new Gibsons Elementary School building. The new facility is on the books to replace the aging building, which is more than 50 years old and is in need of seismic repairs.
The priorities for the NLC are to include an early learning hub, an intergenerational multipurpose space and cooking facilities for community and school use.
SD46 has been approved for an extra 414 square metres of space for the NLC in the new school building.
When the replacement school will be built and the plans will move forward is a hard question to answer, according to board chair Silas White.
"There are still a lot of procedures and paper work that are going to go through the ministry before that happens," he said.
Superintendent of schools Deborah Palmer explained the process to date and the district's next steps.
"The ministry has allocated us space for 300 grade one to seven students and 40 kindergarten students. In addition to that space we've been given 414 square metres to use as a Neighbourhood of Learning, so what the ministry's saying is we are prepared to build that capital space for you given that you made the request and now it's up to us as we work with the community as we did up to this point about who will share that space with us," she said.
New website
SD46 has launched a new website, which they have been working on since Christmas. The site was hoped to be launched in April, but some bugs needed to be worked out.
At the June 14 board meeting Palmer said the new site is now up and running at www.sd46.bc.ca. It features a cohesive colour scheme, up to date photos, drop down menus, an upcoming events calendar, news releases, a new school locator feature and the ability to sign up for monthly newsletters from the school district.
"We're really happy to be able to launch it tonight and it really is beautiful and it gives a really good impression of the school district," Palmer noted.
