Plans are underway to construct a new facility for the French language elementary school on the Sunshine Coast administered by Conseil scolaire francophone.
“I look forward to getting these projects underway so we can better serve the children in our South Coast region,” said Roger Lagassé, South Coast trustee for Conseil scolaire francophone, also known as School District No. 93 (SD93).
The district is aiming to build new facilities in the South Coast region in Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and the Sunshine Coast, which Lagassé said was being prioritized by the Ministry of Education.
Since 1989, École du Pacifique has been operating as an elementary school out of the Sunshine Coast Community Schools campus in Sechelt, relying on several older portables. The high school, l’École secondaire Chatelech, has been operating out of Chatelech secondary for about 20 years, according to Lagassé, and will remain at that high school.
“We’ve always had to rent or lease or buy older buildings from other districts, buildings that weren’t being used,” said Lagassé. SD93 is relatively new compared to the English school districts in B.C., and so doesn’t have a land base on which to build. “We’re always scrambling to try to find places to build schools,” said Lagassé.
“The ministry is anxious to help but it’s a new district so they have to try to convince existing school districts to share their land.”
A project timeline on the school district’s website shows that research for a site has been underway since 2017 and a purchase date for land is scheduled for April 2020. Ideally, the district would acquire land already with the required zoning, said Lagassé. He said staff has been in touch with School District No. 46 and expects to confirm a site for the future construction “sometime in early 2020.” The timeline puts the date for starting construction at June 2021.
Parents whose children are enrolled in the school have “been very patient,” said Lagassé, referencing a 2016 B.C. Supreme Court ruling that found certain schools to be underfunded compared to English school districts, and some lack adequate facilities, including École Élémentaire du Pacifique.
