Plea to sell school site rejected
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Feb 12 2010
By: Jeff Bell

Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid has turned down a request by Saanich school district trustees to sell the former site of Sansbury Elementary School in North Saanich.

The school …was closed in 2005, one of many in B.C. shut down due to declining enrolment.

Saanich officials submitted a request in November 2008 to sell the two-hectare Sansbury property to help pay off a $3.7-million debt incurred through construction of a new facility….

The board had hoped to secure about $2.5 million from the sale, but since December 2008, disposal of any board-owned property in the province must be approved by the minister.

No specific reason for the Sansbury decision was given, but requests can be rejected if former school sites are deemed potential neighbourhood learning centres -- which combine educational and community uses -- or might be needed with the advent of full-day kindergarten over the next two years….