CARSTAIRS - Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) trustee Melissa Copley has given an update on the expansion project at Carstairs Elementary School.
The review came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting, held by teleconference.
The $5.6 million expansion now underway will see 10 additional classroom spaces built to accommodate 250 students. It also involves additions to the gym, and expanding the parking lot and bus loop.
The original timeline was to have the work completed by September.
“We are substantially ahead of schedule on the gymnasium,” said Copley. “Pumping and electrical are being completed and drywall has started. The exterior is starting to look the same as the main school. The gym floor is getting ready to pour and the roof is being completed on the expansion of the gym.”
The project remains on budget, she said.
“We are confident we will hit that September goal,” she said.
With the expansion the school will move from K-2 to K-4.
There should be adequate teacher parking spaces available with the expansion, she said.
Regarding Hugh Sutherland School, she said many remote learners have now returned to in-person classes at the school, she said.
There was a division-wide effort not to have cutoff times for students to come back to in-person or remain at online learning, she said.
“That’s proven to be very effective in the division, including in Carstairs,” she said.
Teachers, staff and students across the division have coped very well with the pandemic, she said.
“Across the division I think we have done very well,” she said.
Council accepted Copley’s report as information.
