School District 85 is looking at potentially closing Cheslakees Elementary School in Port McNeill.
According to a letter from SD85 Board Chair Leightan Wishart that was sent to Port McNeill council and included in their Dec. 10 agenda, the news came up at a school district meeting held on Nov. 18, where the board of education decided to "seek input from the school and community at large regarding a possible closure of Cheslakees Elementary School, effective July 1, 2025."
"The board would welcome your views on having all kindergarten students in Port McNeill attend Sunset Elementary School in September 2025," states the letter. "Enrollment at Cheslakees continues to decline, and there is room at Sunset School to accommodate all the students. This change would be made for financial reasons, as the board has to grapple with a significant funding shortfall next year."
Wishart wrote that it would be the board’s intention to continue to host child care programs and StrongStart at Cheslakees School next year.
"The board would be happy to receive your written feedback regarding this change up until the board meeting on Feb. 10, 2025. The board would make this decision through a school closure bylaw, which requires three readings."
The readings are scheduled to occur at board meetings to be held Feb. 10, March 10 and April 14.
When asked to comment, Port McNeill mayor James Furney said his council decided at the meeting they would "put their ears out into their areas of the community and find out what the appetite is for taking the building over."
Furney said the town wouldn't be interested in purchasing the building from SD85. "It would definitely be gifted to Port McNeill," he confirmed, which would be a similar situation to what happened previously with the Old School property that's been on the town's books since around the early 1980's.
"We're hoping not to have another Robert Scott School situation here where a building sits under-utilized for years," Furney stated. "We need to get the building out of the ownership of the school district."
Robert Scott Elementary School was closed down in Port Hardy in 2010 and has continued to be under SD85's ownership, being used for child care programs, StrongStart, and other business ventures.
SD85 receives no direct funding to maintain a school once it's closed but still has to maintain the building, which is why Robert Scott continues to be rented out.
Furney added another option would be to simply keep Cheslakees running as a Kindergarten school and move Grade 1 classes from Sunset Elementary School over to help fill the attendance even more.
Cheslakees has faced closure threats before in 2010 due to budget cuts. In 2011 it was converted to a kindergarten and early-learning centre.
