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Education ministry supporting student safety in Quesnel with QJS closure

Move to Maple Drive Junior School will solve problem but ministry says it is temporary
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Structural issues at Quesnel Junior School (QJS) have forced the closure of the facility.

More than 400 grades 8 and 9 students will be transferred to Maple Drive Junior School (MDJS) when renovations complete by March 2018.

The provincial government is providing $1.7 million to the Quesnel School District (QSD) for the renovation so the students “will soon be learning in a safer, more secure environment.”

Provincial funding covers the cost of renovations of MDJS, two portables, and moving school supplies and equipment.

QJS was built in 1950 and is in need of significant repair.

QSD superintendent of school Sue-Ellen Miller says she’s very pleased about the move to MDJS. She adds various school boards have been working with the education ministry for ways to replace QJS since 2005.

Miller says that many of the school’s systems have reached their end of life and there are some structural concerns.

“We want to make sure we have kids in the safest environment we can have them in.”

Noting there were some engineering studies done on the school, Miller say the report cautioned both the ministry and the district that “let’s move on this.”

All students who bus to QJS will be bused to MDJS.

This temporary solution gives the province and the school district time to investigate longer-term options for grades 8 and 9 students.

“The safety of students, teachers and support staff throughout B.C. is my top priority,” says Education Minister Rob Fleming.

He adds ministry staff continue to work closely with the school district on a long-term solution.

School board chair Gloria Jackson says the board is pleased that the ministry is supporting this important school project.

“The board takes very seriously its role in ensuring the safety of students, staff and others who occupy our buildings. We look forward to working with the ministry on a long-term solution for junior school students in Quesnel.”

MDJS was built in 1979 and has been closed for 13 years.

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However, space has been rented out to two sports groups and a daycare.

Judy Sutton is the owner of The Whole Child Early Learning Centre and she was initially not happy with the news.

She has been renting space at MDJS for two years and looks after 95 children.

Sutton says she found out about the relocation via a parents’ meeting she attended, and was not officially told she will have to move out by Jan. 1 until Nov. 23, two days after the ministry of education sent out a press release.

“It was devastating at first.

“But the school district eventually got in touch with me and they promised to help me find a new location, inside another school.

“It may no longer be south of town if all the schools are full. They are looking south, and also in West Quesnel.

“I’m relieved I will have a place to go.”

Sutton says the school district representative promised to help with her moving expenses to her new venue, wherever it may be.

She has been in the process of moving her under-five children into a new facility.

While she found a building for the little ones, zoning alone took nine months to complete.

Then she has to get licensing permits to move the daycare and get signed off, as well as do a business proposal.

Prior to the school district reaching out, Sutton says her staff and the parents of the 35 after-school children were panicking.

The after-school program provides childcare from 2:30 to 6 p.m.