The pieces are beginning to fall into place for the rebuilding of the Stewart Valley Schools after the building was demolished by a fire in August 2022. 

On Tuesday, the Chinook School Division announced that the plans to rebuild the school had been approved by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. 

Chinook Board Chair, Kim Pridmore, elaborated on the plans for the new facility. 

“They will look at our projected enrollment numbers,” she stated. “We did conduct a survey that showed strong numbers for the size of the community, so, they'll build according to that. That will all go through architects and a project manager that will kind of take that project on. So that will be our next step.” 

She added that the next step is to send out a request for a proposal from architects, which will include a consultation with the school and the community. 

Insurance proceeds will be used for the rebuild, with the ministry stipulating that they will not provide Chinook School Division with any additional funding to complete the project. 

“We appreciate the patience from everyone that was waiting for a response from us and we're just excited that the ministry has approved it, and we're just looking forward to getting started,” Pridmore concluded.