The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division has taken another step in a long-term facilities project.
At the regular meeting on Monday, the Board approved the 2023-24 Facilities Master Plan report as presented by AODBT Architecture and Design. This plan was created to evaluate existing Sask Rivers facilities on their ability to support 21st Century Learning.
This included providing recommendations for existing facilities to better support educational goals and adaptability to future change.
“Now what we have to do as a division is take a look at that report and see the recommendations within it and then build our own plan, because the reality is that we won’t be able to do everything that is in that plan,” Sask Rivers education director Robert Bratvold said. “We have to say, ‘what are our priorities?’”
Bratvold said they will use their knowledge along with the expertise of AODBT to figure out the master plan.
“AODBT certainly has great expertise and they do have a good depth of knowledge of facilities and of education and a great team doing the work,” he explained.
“They have got some recommendations and they know our schools pretty well but not nearly as well as we do, so we will do some of the work to build from that plan into what we are going to put in place for a facilities plan for the coming year,” he added.
Many Sask. Rivers facilities were built in the 1960s. The report reflected this by recommending a number of upgrades to support students and teaching staff.
The external review included structural and maintenance analysis as well as site visits and discussions with school teams about programming needs and use of space.
Superintendent of Facilities Mike Hurd and his team will also contribute to the overall plan.
“Our board has a great facilities committee that has been working with AODBT all along the way and so now they can take that piece and finalize it into our own plan going forward,” Bratvold said.
Facilities Committee Chair Bill Yeaman announced the plan to the board in December, 2021.
At that time, Bratvold explained said the level of detail will help provide future direction for Hurd and his planning the Preventative Maintenance Renewal (PMR) budget and regular maintenance budget. It will also allow the board to look into the future 20 years and know what to expect in terms of demands on budgets and facilities decisions.
Educational program delivery models continue to adapt to changing needs, and the Board wants to be proactive ensure facilities should be able to do the same.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
