Parents and students at J.H. Sissons School in the east end of the city enjoy certain aspects of the existing building, which hasn't had had a major renovation since opening in 1975.
They appreciate the centrality of the library, the open concept of the classrooms. They like the size and location of the school property, the playground and the many trees.
However, there are also many issues with the junior kindergarten to Grade 5 school, including a bottlenecked building entrance, poor parking situation, limited accessibility with too many stairs and the location of the staff office.
The place also had to be evacuated and closed for a day in early February when fumes were detected from a boiler backdraft. That's an example of what must be a constant battle to maintain the aging school's infrastructure.
Starting in 2013, officials began the lengthy process of re-imagining the school and whether to renovate the existing building. In November, Yk Education District No. 1 (Yk1) got the territorial government to agree that replacing the school was the best option.
At that time, a final preliminary estimate and a schematic design were expected to be completed by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment by the end of this month. It would then be submitted for further GNWT review and funding as part of the capital planning process.
Then Yk1 threw a monkey wrench into those plans when it decided in a close 4-3 vote to go against the GNWT's recommendation to rebuild the school on its current footprint. Instead, to prevent the dislocation of hundreds of students during the demolition and construction, the new Sissons structure will rise near the existing school on the same property.
Sure enough, two weeks later, the GNWT declared the project’s funding will not be included in the 2019-2020 capital budget – building off the existing footprint triggered new geotechnical surveys and soil studies – meaning the original school will stay as-is for the foreseeable future.
It's now hoped the Sissons project will be in the 2020-2021 budget, meaning the earliest the school could be ready for kids is in the fall of 2024.
Needless to say, Yk1 has had a rocky relationship with the territorial government the last few years. When asked to give up a school in 2013 so it could be handed over to the French school board to satisfy a court judgment against the GNWT, the school board balked despite low enrolment numbers in some of the schools. One of the schools on the chopping block was J.H. Sissons. It was saved after a public outcry from parents.
Enrolment numbers, no doubt aided by the addition of junior kindergarten, have improved in recent years but the school board could come to regret its decision to scrap the government's geotechnical work and start over.
Two years is a life time in politics, especially when there is an election during that time. A government green-lighting a decision to rebuild today might not do the same if plans change radically and prove more expensive.
Estimates last year put a Sissons rebuild at up to $50 million. A higher bill to accommodate the change in plans and a change in government after next year's election risks all Yk1 has gained.
Dealing with parents is tough as would be shuttling students around different schools during construction if Sissons were to be built on site.
But there is an old saying about a bird in hand, and Yk1 has let this one fly away.