Parents raise concerns about seismic upgrades at East Vancouver school

Parents of students at Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith school in Vancouver are concerned that plans for seismic upgrades will divide the community and send siblings and friends in different directions.

The elementary school is set for a two-year retrofit. During construction, students would be bused to nearby MacCorkindale and Champlain Heights, which currently have extra space.

Jennifer Jacobs’ son attends Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith. She commutes daily from North Vancouver because she says the school has a supportive and inclusive community that her family values.

“My son has ASD, so he has an autism spectrum disorder,” she said. “Social communication is one of the things that he really struggles with. We’ve done so much investment in the peers supporting him, and understanding him and being empathetic. And splitting those up would be the worst thing I could think of to happen.”

The alternative of renting portables to keep students together on-site would cost $3 million.

“The money saved by avoiding unnecessary portable rental costs can be invested in other much-needed seismic improvements,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Education.

The $10-million upgrades at Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith are also raising questions because they won’t address some of the building’s basic needs.

“It doesn’t make sense to me as a taxpayer, much less as a school trustee, to pour over $10 million into an old school that has a lot of deferred maintenance that still won’t be addressed, when you can build a new one for a few million dollars more,” said Vancouver School Board Trustee Patti Bacchus.

But the Vancouver School Board has 64 schools slated for seismic upgrades and not enough funds to replace each building in its entirety. Board officials say they studied all the options for Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith and chose the lowest cost that also provided the safest option for students. The board says it will consult with families before the upgrades begin to make sure siblings stay together if that’s what families wish.