‘Environmentally friendly’ elementary school to be built in south Langford

The B.C. government announced Tuesday it will spend $39.6 million to build a new elementary school in the fast-growing Langford neighbourhood of Latoria.

The new school will be built with an “environmentally friendly design, focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions during construction and operation,” the Ministry of Education said in a news release.

It will be located on Latoria Road, near Klahanie Drive, and have an enrollment of 480 students. It is expected to be ready in fall 2025.

“This new school in Langford will be a space that fosters a sense of community and belonging, and it will meet the needs of a diverse group of students now and for future generations,” Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside said in a statement.

Among the environmentally friendly features, mass timber will be used to build the school, a product that is considered sustainable and low-carbon when compared to concrete or steel.

Heat pumps, thick exterior wall insulation and unit ventilators will also help lower the school’s carbon footprint, the ministry said.

Once it’s completed, the school will include a neighbourhood learning centre for community programs like child care, elevators and accessible and gender-neutral washrooms.

“Every year, we see more and more families moving to Langford to raise their children, and we are supporting this growing community by building good schools close to home,” said Premier John Horgan, who is also the MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca.

“By using mass timber in the construction of this school, we will also be supporting good-paying forestry jobs, reducing carbon pollution and keeping our kids learning in small class sizes.”

The announcement comes just one week after the Sooke School District said in a statement that none of its requested major capital building projects were approved for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

In addition to requesting a new school for south Langford, the district had also asked for the province to fund new schools in north Langford and south Colwood, as well as a seismic upgrade to Port Renfrew Elementary and a building envelope at Langford’s Willway Elementary. None of the other projects appear to be going ahead.

The government’s most recent budget outlined $3.1 billion to maintain, replace or renovate K-12 schools over the next three years — 80 of which are currently in design, construction or occupied, with another three dozen in the business case stage.

The Sooke School District will contribute an additional $1 million to the Latoria elementary school project.

With files from CHEK News political correspondent Rob Shaw.

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