The public is invited to a virtual meeting Wednesday to give input on a proposed Greater Victoria School District land sale that would allow construction of a new school for francophone students.
The idea is to sell about three hectares of the 10-hectare playing field area at Lansdowne Middle School to the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Columbie-Britannique — B.C.’s French-language school board — for $15 million to use as the site for a new École Beausoleil.
École Beausoleil, which has 86 students in kindergarten through Grade 3, has been operating for the past six years at the former Sundance Elementary on Bank Street, including a one-year extension that ends in June. The space is leased from the Greater Victoria School District, which has announced plans to re-establish the site as its own elementary school because of increased demand in the area.
The overall plan includes relocating École Beausoleil to a new 12-unit modular school, being built on the grounds of Braefoot Elementary, until the Lansdowne facility is built. École Beausoleil is set to add Grade 4 students in September, and Grade 5 and 6 students in 2022 and 2023.
Greater Victoria School Board chairwoman Jordan Watters said district officials are looking forward to hearing from community members. “It’s important for them to come out and learn about the project and show their perspective.”
The 6:30-8 p.m. public session will look at things like using the money from the land sale to fund upgrades at other schools in the district, and will include a question-and-answer period.
For more information and the Zoom link to the meeting, go to the school board's website.
