A step forward towards a new elementary school in Pineview Valley.

In a letter to the Kamloops-Thompson School District, B.C.’s Ministry of Education says it is in support of the district moving ahead with a business case for the new school in Kamloops.

It comes after the province approved a transfer of 2.28 hectares of Crown land, south of Snowberry Crescent and east of Python Lake, to the district in order to build a school.

SD73 Board Chair Heather Grieve says the district is waiting for that land to go through the land title’s office.

“It does allow us to then look at having our business case put forward and finalized for the project to be considered for funding,” she said on the NL Morning News.

“So we’ve been in communication with the Ministry of Education and Child Care. We wrote another letter in July and received a response saying once that Crown grant approval was in place then we would be able to move forward with the business case. So this is actually a major milestone for us.”

Grieve says the board is asking the Ministry of Forests to expedite the Crown Land grant process.

“And we were pleased to see that actually it was on the Order in Council on July the 11 that show that the transfer of the Crown Grant Land has actually been happening and it was approved and handed down to the school district,” she added.

“We are one step closer to a new school in Pineview Valley.”

The Ministry says it understands the significant pressures being faced in the Kamloops area when it comes to enrolment.

“We have a $900-million commitment around capital investments in schools, to build new schools and expand schools as we’ve been doing in Kamloops,” Education Minister, Jennifer Whiteside said, on the NL Morning News.

“So we work across government and work with our partners at the school district and at city council as well. In terms of the municipalities, they are very important partners here as well to get these projects through as quickly as we can and that is certainly what we are doing here with Pineview.”

There is no word on a what this new school will look like or when construction will get underway. A new school in Pineview Valley has been one of SD73’s top priorities for a couple of years, with SD73 expecting it to cost at least $33-million.

Whiteside says it is hard to say how quickly the process can move from a business plan to having funding committed to a project because of the other parties involved.

“We’re working closely with the district on working through that business case for Pineview Elementary and we’ve got Bachelor Heights coming down the pipeline as well. So lots of activity in Kamloops for sure.”

Other priorities include a new secondary school and two elementary schools in Aberdeen, a new elementary school in Juniper West, and a new K-12 school in Sun Peaks.

“To address aging schools, our Board of Education has also requested the replacement of eight schools,” Grieve added, noting the eight schools listed for replacement are Dallas, Bert Edwards, Kay Bingham, Raft River, AE Perry, Marion Schilling, and Beattie elementaries, along with South Kamloops Secondary.