Parents at Richard McBride Elementary send their kids off to school every morning knowing that if a major earthquake hits, their kids will be sitting in a building that is deemed high risk for damage.
The same is true of those at New Westminster Secondary School, F.W. Howay and the former Hume Park Elementary School, which now houses the district's Homelearners' program.
"It is scary, and especially because we see signs of wear and tear on the building anyway ... but, of course, we also don't know when the 'big one' could happen," McBride parent advisory council co-chair Heather Corbett said in an email to The Record.
The recent 4.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of B.C. serves as yet another reminder of the "sleeping monster" that could awaken at any time, and for four New Westminster schools, it could spell disaster.
McBride, a school with approximately 420 students, is on the province's radar to be replaced, Corbett said.
The question of whether the provincial government should act faster on replacing the seismically unsafe school has come up at McBride's parent council meeting for the last couple of years, Corbett said.
"It's like an endless waiting game," she said. However, Corbett added that she was "encouraged" to see that the school made the government's seismic upgrade list.
But the big question remains whether McBride will be fixed or replaced.
"Either way, another key question will be how much upheaval this will cause the kids and their education," Corbett wrote. "It would be ideal to have an answer soon so that proper preparations can be made."
The district is working to secure a replacement of New Westminster Secondary School, a process that has been going on for years.
"In terms of hearing about whether the district will get funding for the high school or for McBride, I'd rather hear the verdict on the high school," Corbett said. "I think it's more important."
Doug Templeton, the district's director of operations, told The Record that once the high school replacement funding is approved, the district will move forward with securing funding for the district's other seismic upgrades.
The district is currently working with the Ministry of Education on the high school replacement project and looking to secure funding. Superintendent John Gaiptman has estimated the complex project - the site contains an old cemetery - would cost about $110 million.
The district is putting together a project report ("being written as we speak," Templeton said) for the earthquake upgrades at McBride, Templeton said.
The district is working with a consultant to determine the cost of replacing McBride. After NWSS and McBride, the district would deal with Howay.
"Howay is a pretty minor project, and it's scheduled to follow McBride," Templeton said. "We have finished all of our assessment work on the school, so we know what the resolve is and what the fix is."
If an earthquake does hit, all schools across the district have an emergency plan that students practise several times a year.
Other schools in the district are considered medium to low risk for damage. For the entire list of schools in the region, visit www.bced.gov.bc.ca.
For the last decade, the provincial government has been upgrading schools throughout Metro Vancouver, only one Royal City school (newly built QayQayt Elementary, which replaced John Robson Elementary), made the list of completed seismic projects.
