The Facilities Planning Committee held its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.  

The meeting’s first agenda item was about the construction of the partial seismic replacement for Weir Elementary. As part of the work, BC Hydro requires a Statutory Right of Way (SRW) to provide electrical power to the new school. Trustee members of the committee supported moving the bylaw forward to Board for approval.  

The committee then heard details of funding allocation from the District’s Annual Facilities Grant. Funding for the grant is provided by the Ministry of Education and Child Care for the purpose of maintenance and capital work on District’s facilities. The total grant allocated to Vancouver is $11,477,773 – which is the same amount as the 2021-22 allocation. The District has more than 110 sites and a deferred maintenance balance of approximately $927 million as of 2020-21.

The final item on the agenda was a progress update about the Seismic Mitigation Program. In 2015, there were 69 schools considered high seismic risk. Since then:

·       The District replaced or upgraded 13 schools that are now considered seismically safe

·       An additional seven schools are in the construction phase to become seismically safe

·       One school is in the design phase

·       Five other schools are currently being investigated to determine the seismic work feasibility.

Keep up to date with all of the District’s committee and Board meetings; see the calendar for meeting dates, agendas and livestream links. A full recording of the meeting can be found on the District’s YouTube channel.