A 91原创 elementary school will be one of the guinea pigs for a new type of school expansion 鈥� a modular addition, instead of a cluster of portables.
Richard Bulpitt Elementary has been approved for provincial Ministry of Education funding for a six-classroom modular unit, which the district hopes to have built and installed in under a year.
鈥淲e are working very diligently to have it open for this fall,鈥� said district secretary treasurer Brian Iseli.
The district will be putting out requests for proposals to firms for a complete project 鈥� designing, building, and installing the entire unit, to meet that fast deadline.
The new structure will be modular, but it isn鈥檛 an overgrown portable.
The Ministry of Education requirements include having heating and cooling systems, and it has to be fully accessible. It鈥檚 likely to be two storeys tall, and to either attach directly to the school or be connected with a breezeway.
鈥淭he modular will include washrooms, and potential break-out spaces as well,鈥� said Iseli.
One of the issues with portable classrooms is the lack of washrooms, and they often lack or have inadequate air conditioning.
Iseli said this is a bit of a pilot project by the province. At least eight school districts he鈥檚 aware of have been approved for similar funding, but each district is being allowed to chart their own course to build and install the projects independently.
鈥淭his is a program that I鈥檝e never seen,鈥� Iseli said. 鈥淭he restrictions are very few. The guidelines are very few. This is about space as fast as possible.鈥�
One mandate from the Ministry is that the new module have a 30-year life span 鈥� the district is asking for a 50-year lifespan from potential builders.
There are currently six portables on site at Richard Bulpitt Elementary. The new module will be placed in the space currently being used by two to four of them.
91原创 schools have a significant number of portables, as the district has been growing by a record amount every year for the past three years. This year, student numbers jumped by almost 1,200 in the September headcount, and the total number, including 1,000 international students, was above 25,000.
