Municipal council in Sun Peaks and the Kamloops-Thompson School District will be meeting next month to discuss the future of a brick-and-mortar school in the village.

Mayor Al Raine says there are currently 130 students in Sun Peaks and the community needs to find a permanent site for a school.

“Probably K to (grade) 8 or 9, and then high school will probably still be a separate situation. That’s what we have in the present time.”

Right now, high school students in Sun Peaks are housed next to the Health Centre and elementary kids go to school in portables at the top of the Platter Lift, which kids can ski in and out of during the winter.

“We’re looking certainly for elementary and junior high school in one location. We’re hopeful that we can get working on plans and that we could realize something within the next two to three years,” Raine says.

As for the timeline for getting something built, “we’ve been told by school trustees in the past that short of five years is not even possible, more like 10 years. I think, in fact, if the right circumstances came together that program could be accelerated significantly.”

A new school in Sun Peaks was put on the school district’s priority list last summer for capital funding requests, which would be expected to cost more than $16 million.