The Sooke School District population has grown by 310 students or three per cent in the new school year -- the equivalent of one full elementary school.
That puts the overall student total at 11,142, while projected growth is close to 27 per cent over the next nine years.
Sooke is the fastest-growing district per capita in B.C.
Superintendent Scott Stinson said accurate projections and managing short-term issues with portables and renovations are important, along with long-term planning for building new schools and acquiring the land on which to build them.
At present, the district has secured $88.6 million from the provincial government for a 500-seat elementary school and a 700-seat middle school on Constellation Avenue, with both scheduled to open in September 2022.
“We’re doing design right now and we have tendered the levelling of the property,” Sooke School Board chairman Ravi Parmar said. “So we should be awarding that hopefully the end of this month.”
He said it has helped the situation to have “an expedited process” for building new schools that brings together the board, the district, local municipalities and the province.
Getting schools built instead of setting up portables can save a lot of money, he said.
“It’s about $300,000 a portable and we added five in the summer.”
He said it usually takes five to seven years for schools to go though the complete design and construction process, but the timeline for the new elementary and middle schools is being cut down to about two-and-a-half years.
A $29.9-million expansion of Royal Bay Secondary is close to completion and $18.6 million was provided by the province for the purchase land on McCallum Road, near Costco, for a future 800-seat secondary school.
Looking farther ahead, plans call for four new elementary schools and an expansion at Edward Milne Secondary.
