B.C.’s Education minister is throwing his support to the Kamloops-Thompson School Board’s decision to re-open Westsyde Elementary to tackle spacing challenges.

Rob Fleming says a number of school districts across the province are looking at re-opening closed schools for a number of reasons, as they wait for capital funding to arrive.

“I certainly respect the role of trustees in making a local decision about re-opening a school,” Fleming said. “I think that in Kamloops that was a discussion that had been underway for longer than a single school year.”

“Looking ahead to September 2019 the board, in consultation with the community, has decided that Westsyde will add to the educational landscape in Kamloops and be a good feature to help them deal with some of the overcrowding issues.”

Fleming says the spacing challenges are not just a demographics issue, with a growing student population, but also revolve around class sizes, and working conditions for teachers.

Westsyde will be renovated ahead of re-opening in September to take pressure off of a jammed David Thompson Elementary.