The motion to build a new J.H. Sissons school off from the original site passed with a 4-3 vote on Tuesday night during a special Yellowknife Education District No. 1 board meeting.
The chosen plan was one of four options recommended by Taylor Architectural Group which were presented in a town hall meeting at Sissons school last Thursday.
The GNWT and the architects were in agreement that building on-site was the best possible action to take said Yk1 chair John Stephenson.
"This decision to build off-site triggers the need for geotechnical surveys and investigations on what the soils are like around the school," said Stephenson.
Board member Terry Brookes opened the "new business" portion of the proceedings by bringing forward a motion to build the new Sissons school off-site of the original school on the school's parking lot. The motion was seconded by board member Jay Butler.
"Option three (from the initial four option plan set out by the architects) is the best option to take," said Brookes who consulted with land surveyors before the meeting. "They say it will only take three weeks to finish the geotechnical survey."
Brookes described the obstacles of building the school on the existing site, including making sure the school has an accessibility ramp which may cost $300,000 to construct.
Building off the current site also allows the district to keep students on Sissons grounds instead of dispersing them to other schools throughout the city. Building on site would require sending students to other Yk1 schools for two years.
Brookes' motion was met with some hesitation by Yk1 board member Tina Drew who mentioned the importance of the school yard for children. Drew argued since Sissons is to be built off-site, children will not get to experience the importance of recess and teachers will not get the mental break they need from students.
Drew's comments in regards to building on the existing site were met with support, as concerned parent Tamlin Gilbert who has two sons attending J.H. Sissons said no one likes change.
"Nobody likes disruption," said Gilbert in response to the argument of dispersing students across the city to accommodate the build. "However both change and disruption provide the opportunity for growth."
Yk1 is approaching the decision to build off-site in a general, step-by-step way said Stephenson. However, Stephenson added since the school will be on a new site the process has the potential to be delayed a year depending on the results of the geotechnical work.
"This really is a good news story for Yellowknife," he said. "I have total confidence that the parents in our school board will adapt to the decision."
The next step for the Yk1 school board is to take the results of Tuesday's special board meeting and present them to the GNWT's Education Culture and Employment department.
The GNWT has yet to approve the budget for building a new school and has until October to do so.