150 new student spaces will be added to Wellington Secondary School by winter 2026 through construction of new prefabricated classrooms. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

new classrooms

Six new prefabricated ‘modern classrooms’ planned for Nanaimo’s Wellington Secondary

Aug 30, 2024 | 11:22 AM

NANAIMO — New classrooms are coming to Wellington Secondary School.

The provincial government, in partnership with School District 68, announced 150 new seats will be added to the school, pushing official capacity from 900 to 1,050 students by winter 2026.

Six new classrooms, at a budget paid for by the province of $9 million, will be added using a prefabricated building method which, according to the province, will be like “learning in modern classrooms that look just like regular schools.”

“They will be separated from the school however the examples we’ve been looking at in Langley and Sooke, they do a really good jobs of making them feel integrated into the school community,” Mark Walsh, SD68 secretary-treasurer, said at a Friday, Aug. 30 news conference at the school.

The new classrooms could be constructed in two storeys, to preserve outdoor space, however the exact location on school grounds hasn’t been determined.

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Washrooms, electrical rooms and other essentials will also be included in the new spaces categorized as general instructional spaces.

It’s expected the three portable classrooms, currently situated along Mexicana Rd., will stay for the foreseeable future with a fourth being added this school year.

Student enrollment numbers for September 2023 showed 1,066 students at Wellington Secondary, while 2024 numbers are yet to be solidified.

“Part of the work we’ll do with the school is finding that right balance between where it’s located, the cost for the location, the civil work…and how it integrates into the school,” Walsh said. “If it’s close we can do breezeways, if it’s a little further away those are a little more challenging.”

Walsh added an expanded Wellington Secondary could also lead to high school catchment shift impacting Dover Bay and Nanaimo District Secondary School areas pending consultation.

Most of the classroom construction at the expanded Wellington Secondary School will occur off site, before being transported to the school site in panels.

Pete Sabo, executive director of planning and operations for SD 68, said it’s a fast method of construction allowing multiple aspects at once.

There is some work that needs to be constructed on site like civil, connecting to utilities, as a standard building would. But while that work is going on, the building can start being constructed off site,” Sabo said.

The district hopes to have a contract selected for the Wellington school expansion by the end of the year.

The addition helps the District’s continued efforts to alleviate growing capacity issues.

A 2021 report identified classrooms across Nanaimo and Ladysmith will be vastly over-subscribed by 2030.

Dover Bay Secondary (84 per cent over capacity by 2030) and Wellington Secondary (51 per cent) were the two schools in the most trouble.

An increase of capacity at Dover Bay was announced in January 2023, increasing capacity by 100 students, to 1,325.

Recent renovations to Ecole Hammond Bay, Cilaire and Pleasant Valley elementary schools also either expanded capacity or made the school buildings safer.

SD68 is also moving through plans to reopen Rutherford Elementary for the 2025/26 school year, which also includes a proposed re-drawing of school catchment zones for central and north Nanaimo.

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