Whitehorse city council wants an elementary school downtown

Whitehorse city council passed a motion this week calling on the territorial government to keep an elementary school in the downtown core.

It comes as the territory plans to shutter the École Whitehorse Elementary School building in the coming years, and replace it with a new school to be built beside Takhini Elementary School on Range Road. That would leave the downtown core without an elementary school.

The plan was announced in 2022, with the government saying the 74-year-old École Whitehorse Elementary School building needs renovations, and that it's cheaper to just build something new.

The city council motion passed this week does not specifically mention keeping École Whitehorse Elementary School open, and instead urges the territorial government to simply "ensure that there continues to be an elementary school in downtown Whitehorse."

Brook Land-Murphy, a downtown resident and parent who has been advocating to keep an elementary school downtown, addressed council on Monday, saying that the downtown population is expected to grow. 

"The population will and does include many school-age children," she said.

"I very much want to live in a neighbourhood, a vibrant neighbourhood, and a neighbourhood which is indeed, as a city put it so well, the heart of the city — a complete diverse community where children, old people, single people and people with families are all represented."

MLA Lane Tredger, who represents a downtown riding, also spoke to council on Monday in favour of the motion.

Tredger said the territory's plan to replace École Whitehorse Elementary with a new building in the Takhini subdivision was made "with no consultation with residents, and to the best of my knowledge, no consultation with this council."

"Since then, they have refused to commit to an elementary school for downtown," Tredger said.

"I have heard from families downtown who are leaving or considering leaving downtown because they want to live in a neighbourhood where their children can walk to school."

Tredger said an elementary school would help keep the city's centre healthy and vibrant. Students would also benefit from having access to many options for experiential learning, they said, in downtown green spaces or in partnership with museums, galleries, or other organizations based downtown. 

"We need to make downtown livable for everyone. That includes children. And that means a school," Tredger said.

In a letter to council on Monday, Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn reiterated why École Whitehorse Elementary School is set to be replaced. However, he also threw the ball into the city's court by asking it to find a spot in the downtown core where a new school might be built, sometime later.

"As several cabinet ministers have said, with prospective development and densification in the downtown core, the future of downtown Whitehorse may indeed include an elementary school," Mostyn wrote.

Mostyn said any land chosen for a potential future school must be larger than École Whitehorse Elementary School's current location, and that the city should make any appropriate changes to its official community plan.   

"This will allow our government to work with residents, stakeholders, and the municipality so that future planning for a downtown school can occur," he wrote.