Regina Catholic School Division puts offer on new head office

The Regina Catholic School Division wants to move its head office into a bigger building in downtown Regina, freeing up more classroom space.

During the division’s board meeting Monday, the board decided to put an offer in on a four-storey building at 2151 Scarth St., pending approval from the ministry of education.

The building would replace the school division’s current two-storey building, which it has outgrown on Cameron Street in the Cathedral neighbourhood.

A number of the school division’s departments that it doesn’t have room for are spread out across the city at two elementary schools and one high school. Board chair Bob Kowalchuk said most of the staff are working out of Miller Comprehensive High School in technology services and instructional learning services.

“Our intent is to try to consolidate all the services that we currently have located in other buildings, all under one roof,” said Kowalchuk.

The technology and instructional learning services departments used to be located in the central office but, as the demand in those areas grew, Kowalchuk explained they were moved into empty spaces that were available in schools like Miller.

At the time, the school’s lower population allowed for additional office space but that’s changing as the student body is expected to grow by two per cent per year.

“We are seeing a need to take those classroom spaces back that we had been using as office spaces because our primary focus has to be on student learning,” said Kowalchuk.

The new building on Scarth Street would give the school division an additional 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of space to work with compared to the current office. Kowalchuk said that would allow the 40 to 45 staff currently working in the schools to join the rest of the staff in the same building.

Kowalchuk said the board has talked about purchasing a new head office building for years and believes now is the best time based on the current market.

The school division is also considering selling properties to offset the cost associated with a new building. Spokesperson Twylla West said that includes the current Archdiocesan offices, former St. Anne School, former École St. Andrew, as well as the current Catholic Education Centre.

Any sale or purchase of properties by the school division requires final approval from the ministry of education.