DP Todd replacement project tops SD 57 Capital Plan wish list

PRINCE GEORGE — Last year, School District 57 made DP Todd a top priority in its Five Year Capital Plan hoping for money for improvements to the school. Fast forward to this year, SD 57 passed its latest Capital Plan at its last board meeting of the year on June 16.

The number one priority on that plan is once again DP Todd Secondary but the ask is a bit different. Rather than improvements, a full replacement is being lobbied for the school board. That project would be roughly $75 million. Anita Richardson, SD 57 Superintendent, said, “In conversations with the Ministry, we were given the indication that we would be more likely to be successful if we applied for a full replacement as opposed to a modernization or expansion of the current DP Todd.”

Currently, there are three major issues with DP Todd. Two of those are age and design as the school is now over 40 years old and classrooms don’t have windows. The third issue and perhaps most challenging surrounds capacity. Three portables have been used in recent years to help mitigate some of that issue. That will be bumped up to six come the fall semester to help accommodate the new catchment rules, which includes students from Edgewood Elementary and Spruceland Elementary.