Cowichan Secondary could be sold after new school opens

The Cowichan Valley School Board has voted unanimously to start a process that could lead to the eventual sale of Cowichan Secondary.

A replacement school is set to open in September across the street from the aging facility, which was built in 1950 and identified as needing seismic work two decades ago.

Board chair Cathy Schmidt said closing the existing school after the end of the school year “makes fiscal sense,” given the opening of the new Quw’utsun Secondary School and “stagnation” of enrolment in the district’s central area.

Before the school can be sold, the district needs to prove to the Ministry of Education that it won’t be needed for educational use for at least 10 years, said Mike Russell, spokesman for the Cowichan Valley School District.

If the ministry agrees with the board’s stance, it will first shop the school and property around to other ministries, Russell said.

Should no ministries express interest, the fate of the site shifts back to the school board for a round of public engagement, starting with Cowichan Tribes before shifting to local municipalities, Russell said.

Once that consultation is complete, approval for public sale of the school site can be given.

The new $86-million secondary school is under construction on a 5.3-hectare site adjacent to the Cowichan Community Centre. Student capacity at the new school will increase to 1,100 students from the current 800, and the design includes the possibility of expansion to 1,500 students.

Schmidt said the board appreciates how much the old school has meant to the community through the years, and said steps are being taken to ensure the “memory of Cowichan Secondary School lives on.”

“The board carefully considered all the public feedback from the district-engagement session, public survey, letters and emails, and conversations with local stakeholders,” Schmidt said.

North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas, who graduated from Cowichan Secondary, said the area around the old and new schools is earmarked for a “significant amount of growth and development” that includes higher density over coming years, under a Local Area Plan created 10 years ago by North Cowichan and Duncan.

“We’re waiting for the process to play out with the school district and the province.”