The North Vancouver school district is awaiting word from the province about whether a new policy on capital building projects could upset an anticipated $50 million rebuild of Argyle secondary.
Last fall, the North Vancouver Board of Education voted to pursue a rebuild of the school, rather than a seismic upgrade. The decision means the school district will have to borrow - and pay back - the $15 million difference in cost between the two options, and have that approved by the Ministry of Education.
But recently, the province announced a new policy requiring school districts to contribute up to 50 per cent of the cost of new capital projects - including seismic upgrades - if they have cash available.
The letter sent by the province to school superintendents last month said in some cases school districts may have to shift money from existing operating or capital priorities to help pay for major capital projects.
Up until now, major school capital projects like new schools and seismic upgrades have all been funded by the province.
Three high schools in North Vancouver - Argyle, Handsworth and Windsor - are all on the list as needing seismic upgrades.
Of those, a $5.4 million seismic upgrade of Windsor is furthest along in the approval process.
"It's a challenging situation to address with the ministry," said Superintendent John Lewis, who added the change in policy was a surprise to school districts.
Lewis added so far it's not clear what the province considers "available cash."
"The ministry may regard cash position in a different way to the school district or the general public," he said.
The school district, for instance, has set aside about $6 million to fund future employee benefits, said Lewis. "That may appear as cash," he said, but added that money is earmarked for a specific purpose.
The school district also expects to finish the year with a surplus, which it plans to use toward operating costs next year.
"That could be regarded as cash," as well, he said, adding the money is needed to balance the books over the next two years.
The province also has final approval on what the school board can do with half the money it gets from the sale of surplus properties. Currently the school district is still paying down about $6.2 million in debt it acquired during rebuild projects of Sutherland secondary in 2007 and Westview elementary in 2009. The province has indicated it wants that debt paid off before new debts are taken on. Just over $5 million from the school district's sale of Ridgeway Annex is slated to go towards that debt.
The ministry has indicated funding for capital project requests will be discussed with school districts on a case-by-case basis.
While significant funding issues are still being ironed out, the school district is also examining the potential capacity of an Argyle replacement. Lewis said the school district would like to see a replacement built with an official capacity of 1,300 students and potential to expand that to 1,500 students if needed.
