Nanaimo school closed 7 years ago could reopen as new housing brings more students

Nanaimo’s Rutherford Elementary School could reopen in the fall of 2025 to accommodate student population growth from planned new housing developments.

The school, which closed in 2018, will again be filled with students as long as enrolment numbers remain strong this fall at nearby elementary schools in north Nanaimo.

A group will be established to determine what grades will be offered, and community consultation is expected. Some teachers could relocate from another school, and others could be hired. Secretary-treasurer Mark Walsh said the NanaimoLadysmith district has met with developers to get a sense of what residential projects are on tap for the area.

Rutherford school was built in 1964, and had additions up to 1981, and closed five years ago based on a projected continuing decline in student numbers and expansion of another school.

Since then, however, Nanaimo has become one of the fastestgrowing communities in the country, now exceeding 100,000 in population. Developments underway in the north end of the city are expected to bring more students to the area.

Walsh said Departure Bay Elementary to the southeast has essentially doubled in size in the past 10 years. “It went from being a school under-enrolled to being a school with five portables and we’ve put four of them in in the past three years.”

At Randerson Ridge Elementary, to the southwest, non-kindergarten students who were not registered by the January date are now being asked to attend different schools.

The district had the choice of waiting for money from the province to expand Departure Bay School or go ahead and move catchment areas to address the issue right away, Walsh said.

About $1 million was spent to upgrade Rutherford for the 2021-2022 school year, so students from Pleasant Valley school could use it while their own school was undergoing a seismic refit.

As a result, Walsh said, the school is “actually in quite good condition,” although it has seismic issues, similar to a number of other area schools.

The initial expense is estimated to be about $450,000 for items such as desks, technology and supplies. Ongoing operating costs would be about $900,000, Walsh said.

Rutherford has the capacity to take just under 400 students. The goal would be to have about 250 to 300 students when it opens.

There’s the possibility of taking in more international students to help with costs, a strategy supported by the board, Walsh said.

The district board voted unanimously in favour of reopening Rutherford.

Tanya Brzovic, a board member, made the motion to reopen the school and to create the working group to ensure its long-term viability.