SD 10 secures $3 million in funding to help build Nakusp Elementary School child care centre

School District 10 has secured $3 million in funding from a Ministry of Family and Child Development grant and $150,000 from the Columbia Basin Trust to create 96 new child-care spaces at Nakusp Elementary School (NES).

Of the total new spaces, 60 will be provided for kindergarten to Grade 7 students at NES and the rest will be for kids between the ages of zero and five.

There will be multiple components to the project when it finally gets underway.

"First of all, we'll be removing two portables at the school that are at the end of their lives and demolishing them," said SD 10 superintendent Terry Taylor.

"We'll then be adding on to the existing footprint of the school with a new build."

In terms of amenities, most of the child-care space areas will be equipped with at least one washroom and a small kitchen area. One of the spaces with the 60 K-7 students will have two washrooms and a larger kitchen area.

"This design will ensure that each child-care space can continue to operate independently from one another if their hours or needs change," said Taylor.

"The design will also help to ensure the safety of students in this time of COVID-19."

Students will be able to easily access the school's separate washrooms from the location of the child care centre.

SD 10 board of education members could vote on approving a final proposal for the project at their next meeting on Monday, Sept. 28.

Architectural designs and building permits are other things that would have to be approved for the project before construction could begin.

Taylor notes this will be one of the biggest capital project to ever occur in the Nakusp area.

Almost 80 per cent of respondents in a SD 10 survey conducted last spring said they didn't think there was enough child-care spaces available in the district.

The Goat Mountain Child Care Centre in New Denver is also anticipated to open for students next month.