A building that has been a constant presence in the life of Trystan Jones is set for demolition, and he couldn’t be happier.
“I’m very excited about the new school,” said Jones, who attended Port Renfrew Elementary as a child and now teaches there. The school is set to be replaced. “The school is one of the most seismically unsafe schools in the province. It was built in 1970 and is very much past its best before date.”
Jones, a councillor with the Pacheedaht Nation, called the school’s replacement a significant milestone in the future of Pacheedaht Nation children in Port Renfrew.
The $12 million project, funded by the Ministry of Education and Child Care, will accommodate 50 students and was made possible through a partnership with the Sooke School District and Pacheedaht Nation.
“No matter how many children are in that school, it’s very important to remember that every child matters,” said Jones, who teaches grades four and five.
“The staff and the students and the teachers are what make the opportunities for a new school so great. I believe every student has their own unique experiences, and having a new school will bring a lot of positive opportunities for these kids.”
Jones praised his father, former Pacheedaht Nation chief Jeff Jones, for his efforts in obtaining the school’s funding.
“He pushed and pushed to make sure kids have a safe school to go to,” said Trystan, who also worked on the efforts for a new school.
“My dad and the team members from the Pacheedaht Nation actually went to Ottawa to lobby for a new school,” Jones said. “Dad worked closely with Ravi Parmar and they became good friends. Bringing a new school to our community is very much an act of reconciliation. The land of the traditional Pacheedaht territory is one of the most beautiful and optimistic places for land-based and place-based learning.”
Local MLA Ravi Parmar, who announced on March 12 that funding for the school had been secured, has been heavily involved throughout the process, both as MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca and during his years on the Sooke School District board of education.
“During my time as an MLA and as a trustee and chair of the school board, nothing has ever made me feel as proud and satisfied as when I stood in front of the the podium to make that announcement,” Parmar said.
He noted that the process to replace the school dates back about a dozen years.
“There were some significant challenges, especially that the school was in a very rural area,” he explained. The previous Liberal government tried to shut down rural schools like that, which led to the closing of 240 schools in 16 years. The message we’re sending to Port Renfrew and other rural communities across the province is that their kids’ education matters.
“We worked very closely with Chief Jeff Jones to build trust and the acknowledgement that was needed to work better together,” Parmar said. “That led to the board doing more to value and strengthen that relationship, and building a foundation that honoured, and respected the culture and traditions of the Pacheedaht and Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nations.”
Parmar praised everyone involved in the project for their efforts over several years to bring the project to fruition.
Work is expected to begin next fall , with completion targeted for the fall of 2025.
“The success of the project will be that the community’s young people will be able to attend a new state of the art school,” Parmar said.