4 Whitehorse schools rated high for seismic risk - Action News
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4 Whitehorse schools rated high for seismic risk

Whitehorse Elementary, Christ the King Elementary, Wood Street and Takhini Elementary are all on the governments radar for eventual replacement but no timeline has been given.

Schools are safe, say gov't ministers

An outside shot of a red school building.
Whitehorse Elementary School is one of four Whitehorse schools that was rated high for seismic risk, according to a government document. The government said each school is safe and is on the list for eventual replacement, but gave no timeline. (Steve Silva/CBC)

Four Whitehorse schools are rated high for seismic risk, according to government documents.

Despite that, Whitehorse Elementary, Christ the King Elementary, the Wood Street Centre and Takhini Elementary all built in the 1950s or 1960s are safe, said the government.

"Seismic standards for buildings have changed over time," said Yukon Education Minister Jeanie McLeanin the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

"Some older school buildings need work to bring them up to current seismic standards."

She said some non-structural work has been completed to mitigate seismic risk.

"Examples of this include securing furniture, shelving, filing cabinets, systems, pipes, retrofits, etc.," she said.

Education Minister Jeanie McLean said structural mitigation in the schools will take place through longer-term renovations and replacement. She said one aging school in Whitehorse is in the government's capital plan to be replaced, although she didn't identify it. (Yukon Government Media Library)

McLean said the structural work will be addressed through longer-term renovations and replacement plans.

She added that in her department's five-year capital plan, one aging Whitehorse school is slated to be replaced, although she didn't say which one.

"It would likely be one of those four schools," Nils Clarke, the minister of highways and public works, said in a scrum with reporters.

He said each of the four schools are on the government's radar for eventual replacement but no timeline has been given.

Yukon Party MLA Scott Kent pressed the government Thursday for details about funding to mitigate seismic risk in 2022-23 and in the longer term.

McLean said the priority for renovating or replacing schools is based on a building's age, the seismic considerations and the schools' programming needs.

She added $200,000 has been set aside for consultation and an initial design of the school that is scheduled to be replaced in the government's current capital plan.

With files from Julien Gignac