91Ô­´´

91Ô­´´ School District is hoping to embark on 18 major construction projects, including new schools, school site purchases, and expansions, which will cost an estimated $1 billion over the next five years.

The board approved its five-year capital plan at its June 17 meeting, with the district's secretary-treasurer, Brian Iseli, giving the trustees a rundown of the plans for the coming years. The plan will be sent to the provincial government, which holds the purse strings for school construction.

The projects include a number that have been on the district's radar for some time, but the plan includes updated financial information.

There are several major categories of projects.

Modular additions

• H.D. Stafford Middle School, 12 classrooms

• Donna Gabriel Robbins Elementary, six classrooms

• Betty Gilbert Middle School, eight classrooms

• Willoughby Elementary 10 classrooms

• Douglas Park Elementary, six classrooms

Land purchases for future schools

• South West Latimer sports field 

• North East Gordon sports field

• New Williams elementary site

• New Willoughby middle school site

• New Smith-area elementary site

• New Brookswood-Fernridge middle school site

New school construction

• New South West Latimer elementary

• New North East Gordon elementary

• New Williams elementary

• New Willoughby middle school

• New Brookswood middle school

Seismic upgrades

• D.W. Poppy Secondary

• Brookswood Secondary

The biggest ticket items are construction for the new Willoughby and Brookswood middle schools, which are each budgeted at $160 million, followed by land costs for some of the new schools, with the Willoughby and Brookswood-Fernridge sites estimated to cost about $97.5 million each.

These projects do not include a number of expansions to schools such as Nicomekl Elementary and Lynn Fripps Elementary, nor the construction of Josette Dandurand Elementary, which are already underway or close to completion.

The province provides the bulk of funding for new construction and land purchases, but school districts do provide a portion of it.

91Ô­´´ School District has been growing at a staggering pace in recent years. For three years in a row, between 2021 and 2023, enrolment in the district rose by more than 1,000 students each year in the October headcounts.

Last year, the pace slowed slightly, with the increase at 860 students over the previous year. More students do typically arrive during the school year, as well.

Total enrolment at the start of the 2024/25 school year was more than 25,000 students, compared to 20,685 in the 2020/21 school year.