Provincial government waiting on SD52 for progress on PRMS replacement

Prince Rupert residents are waiting for an update from SD52 as to where
the PRMS replacement project may be at

The Province it would seem is ready to get those shovels in the ground for a new Middle School in Prince Rupert, all they need is an update from the School District and some blue prints perhaps, to get to work on the long anticipated SD52 replacement project.

That at least are the tea leaves to be read from a twitter contribution from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, who took to her social media stream on Wednesday in response to our story on the burst of school building across BC that was highlighted by the BC government this week.

As we outlined in our notes of yesterday, the British Columbia government has been building like busy beavers for much of the summer, with announcement after announcement of new schools rising in cities and towns across the province and rehabilitation projects for many other schools completed, or now underway.

That gave us cause to review the Prince Rupert Middle School file and chart some of its meandering path, noting that the last mention of it had come in June at the final Board meeting of the 2018-19 school year

A session where some notes on seismic upgrades for the facility were outlined, with the replacement of the school still highlighted as the highest priority for the School District.

Following Ms. Rice's twitter note of yesterday, the North Coast Review did make an email inquiry of SD52 Board Chair James Horne, but as of yet have not received a reply.

Should any follow up notes arrive from the School District,  we will of course provide the latest comments on the status of where the PRMS plans may be.

Beyond that, we may perhaps get some news on the topic next week, that's when the SD 52 board return to their duties, with their First Board meeting of the new school year set for September 10th.

The first of the eleven listed on the trustees calendar this year.

Hopefully, that will provide an opportunity for an update on the PRMS plans, something that has been one of the longest running issues at School District 52, a journey with a history of twists and turns and stops and starts and not really a lot of information when it comes to progress.

As the May notes from the School District indicate, replacement of PRMS remains the top priority for action. 

So, if the province is apparently ready to move forward as noted by the MLA, then parents, students, teachers and staff can only hope that we hear some news shortly from the local officials that shovels will hit the ground before too long and the long desired replacement school will finally take shape.

For more items of note on Education in the Northwest see our archive page here.


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