While the majority of Coast students went back to class on Monday, Sept. 22, Gibsons Elementary students had to wait until Tuesday, when they were welcomed to a half completed school.
Originally the new elementary school was supposed to be finished over the summer, but construction delays plagued the project.
The planned opening of Monday, Sept. 22 was cancelled on Saturday, Sept. 20 via email and a phone message sent out to parents. That communication was the first parents had received about the school build since the previous school year, which left many upset and concerned.
“Over the summer, it was all about the teachers strike and thinking when the teachers are going to go back, and I didn’t even think about the new school. My assumption was that it would be ready,” said parent Kathryn Harrison.
Another parent, Lesley Barnett, felt that families had been kept in the dark about the state of the build. “There has just generally been an overall lack of communication with parents about what’s been going on,” she said.
Many parents and children were surprised to see the state of their school once they were welcomed to it on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Half the school was cordoned off so construction could continue, and students were left without a functioning gym, library or front office.
Students and parents were told the school had been given a “partial occupancy permit” by the Town of Gibsons so students could start school in the classrooms that were ready for them.
“It was a bit of a shock when we walked in last Tuesday,” Harrison noted.
While students tried to settle into the classroom space available this week, destruction of the old school started and construction of the remainder of the new school is expected to continue for weeks.
Some parents felt the District should have put off demolition of the old school and instead welcomed kids back to class there until the construction of the new school was complete, but superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking said the old elementary wasn’t safe for students.
Crews had already begun to open up the walls and take out the asbestos.
“So there were things hanging down from the ceiling and walls were open and, of course, the understanding we had from the builder was that the timelines would be met so we didn’t worry about cleaning the building because we had no interest in needing it. And certainly that would have been somewhat demoralizing to send teachers and students back into the old school when we didn’t have to,” Bocking said.
“Really the shape that the building was in at the time, we had to make the decision about where the kids were going to be. It just wouldn’t have been acceptable as a learning space.”
He blames the builder alone for delays that forced a partial opening of the new school.
“Definitely it does come down to timelines on the builder’s part and being accountable to them and they do need to be. They did tell us there were going to be timelines that they would stick to, and frankly they didn’t meet those deadlines,” Bocking said.
“There were some soil condition issues as well that caused some delays for the builder, and there were times that the complexity of building on the Sunshine Coast, having products here and that kind of thing, did have some impact on their ability to make sure they met the timelines we were expecting.”
The school district has not considered changing the builder for the project, but Bocking noted, “There have been some staff changes, but beyond that I couldn’t comment.”
The latest timelines released by School District No. 46 (SD46) show Gibsons Elementary being completed by the end of October.
In November, SD46 expects to be working on the new parking area and landscaping in front of the school.
