Opposition parties are speaking out as the Yukon government has confirmed the future site of the replacement École Whitehorse Elementary School (which is currently located downtown) up the hill in Takhini.
Furthermore, the Yukon NDP is keeping its hopes up as options are being explored for building a new school in the core of Yukon’s capital.
On Sept. 27, the News reported the plans for the replacement school based on a report, dated October 2024, that the Yukon government had published online ahead of the official announcement.
During an Oct. 1 press conference to officially announce the plans, attendees heard confirmation that the replacement school is set to go “on the field” where two softball diamonds are currently located, in the northwest corner of the same lot as the existing Takhini Elementary School.
Education Minister Jeanie McLean told a press conference on Oct. 1 that the option selected — which was one of three options — is the best bet to meet the community’s needs.
McLean also told attendees that having a school downtown is now part of the governing Liberals’ vision. While she previously said the door was never closed to having a school downtown, McLean had announced in a statement on the Friday before the long weekend that the Yukon government is “exploring options” for building a new school downtown.
Lane Tredger, the Yukon NDP MLA for Whitehorse Centre, called it a “partial win” for the downtown residents who have been advocating for this but a far cry from a commitment.
During a phone interview on Oct. 1, Tredger said an elementary school is needed downtown, in addition to the three other schools that function in the area: Wood Street Centre, the Individual Learning Centre and Aurora Virtual School. Tredger is thrilled that conversations can begin with downtown residents and businesses to flesh out the details of what that might need to look like. Tredger has already heard from families who are already leaving downtown. Their biggest fear is that downtown becomes a “ghost town” at 5 p.m. because no one wants to live there.
The elementary school currently located downtown needs replacement due to its overall age, condition and significant seismic upgrading requirements, Nils Clarke, who is the minister of public works, told the press conference.
Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn, in charge of the sports file, said he has sent a “letter of comfort” to the affected sporting groups to let them know the Yukon government is going to continue working with them over the coming months to ensure that there’s options to replace the two softball diamonds that will be lost.
“We've got to identify a site and work together to see how we can maximize involvement in Softball Yukon in the coming decades,” he said.
For context, Softball Yukon has nearly 2,000 members.
“We have a huge community there, and we know how important this is to them, so we're not going to let them languish,” Mostyn said.
The territorial opposition parties are reiterating that residents and stakeholders were caught off guard by the initial announcement, that the governing Liberals were considering moving the downtown school to Takhini, in the first place.
Scott Kent, the Yukon Party’s education critic, accused the government of being “secretive” around consultation and the location of the future site of the replacement school.
The next steps laid out should’ve been the first steps taken, he told the News by phone on Oct. 1.
Kent noted proximity to the existing school on the educational land reserve, traffic and the loss of softball diamonds are key issues surrounding the project.
Kent wonders what impact an additional school in the area will have to traffic along Range Road, which is a connector route to Two Mile Hill Road, Mountain View Drive and Yukon University. Bumper-to-bumper traffic can already be observed in the area during rush hours.
Kent said there should’ve been more engagement with the community off the top.
Yukon NDP Leader Kate White, who is the Takhini-Kopper King MLA, also spoke with the News by phone. She agreed the news originally came as a surprise to her constituents. Her party continues propping up the government through the confidence and supply deal with the Liberals.
“It came out of left field when the minister first made the announcement that École Whitehorse Elementary School was going to move up to Takhini, because that like that was not what anything like that was not what anyone had ever anticipated,” White said.
“Then the engagement with my community and Takhini has been really poor, like really, really terrible, and it hasn't, it's not supported.”
White said traffic is the most prominent concern, particularly since an uptick in traffic has been experienced as the Whistle Bend neighbourhood grows and after the City of Whitehorse just completed road work on Range Road in an effort to match the current circumstances. She said crossing Range Road on bike is already the most challenging part of her commute.
White is suggesting that, since F.H. Collins Secondary School was built too small under the Yukon Party and is already overcapacity, the Liberals can right that wrong.
White wants to see a new purpose-built high school in the tank farm area or elsewhere, then relocate École Whitehorse Elementary School students to F.H. Collins Secondary School in Riverdale, and then build another new elementary school with an English stream in downtown.
White indicated something needs to be built centrally to accommodate the existing community’s needs and make way for the potentially few hundred people that will eventually be moving into the undeveloped site at the intersection of Fifth and Rogers.
The ministers spoke about the long-term vision for the existing Takhini Elementary School and other schools across the territory.
“We absolutely inherited a deficit coming into government in terms of upgrades to schools and building of new schools. Whistle Bend is the first new elementary school to be built in 20 years in Whitehorse,” McLean said.
"We are absolutely in a state of catching up to where it should be.”
Mostyn noted government investments in schools are required as the city keeps growing.
“We're seeing people voting in favour of the Yukon with their feet,” he told press conference attendees.
Clarke suggested that in a “perfect world” the elementary schools in the territory would’ve been put into a queue for substantial rehabilitation or replacement starting in the 1980s, but that didn’t happen.
Today, there’s a ranked roster of elementary schools that need work, with École Whitehorse Elementary School topping the list.
Per Clarke, the next steps in the process of relocating the downtown school to Takhini will involve assessments including a comprehensive traffic study and a detailed environmental site review. Then, he said, the conceptual design phase can be undertaken.
A communications staffer in Clarke’s department followed up by email to the News’ question after the press conference about when the new École Whitehorse Elementary School will open to students.
“Construction is expected to begin after these preliminary steps are completed, although exact timelines will be finalized during the next phase,” reads the email.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
