Preliminary findings suggest Lumby residents want major renovations for their schools.
According to information received by School District No. 22, which they began collecting at the Jan. 17 community consultation, 20 of the 47 people who provided the district with their input believe that a major renovation to Charles Bloom Secondary and upgrades to Cherryville Elementary and JW Inglis Elementary is the best option.
“To date, we have received 47 responses, and we encourage people to continue to send in their feedback until Feb. 22,” said Maritza Reilly, district executive assistant and communications coordinator.
Charles Bloom is considered to be safe but has a very poor facility rating and is in need of upgrades. JW Inglis Elementary has a facility rating of poor, and Cherryville Elementary has a rating of very poor.
The district presented three potential options for the future of the schools with a focus on Charles Bloom.
At this point, the preferred option would see the building undergo major renovations but remain underutilized at 61 per cent capacity.
Alternative options include replacing the Grade 7-12 building and upgrading Cherryville Elementary and JW Inglis Elementary or replacing Charles Bloom Secondary as a kindergarten through Grade 12 facility and consolidating either JW Inglis or JW Inglis and Cherryville Elementary in the replacement building.
Both options one and three currently have about five votes.
The consultation saw about 300 members of the public in attendance, several of whom expressed concern over the preliminary statistics presented by the district.
“This is the first step in the process,” said superintendent Joe Rogers. “The questionnaire is just looking for information (to find) what Lumby and Cherryville want for their communities.”
The public is encouraged to provide feedback on their preferred option, with polls staying open until Feb. 22. Feedback can be emailed to Lynne Jameson, ljameson@sd22.bc.ca.
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