On the night of Tuesday, December 1, 2015, nine Nanaimo school trustees voted on whether to close Rutherford Elementary on Hammond Bay Road. Steve Rae, Stephanie Higginson, Jeff Solomon, Natasha Bob and Bill Robinson voted yes at the board's business committee. Jamie Brennan, Tania Brzovic, Scott Kimler and Noah Routley voted no. The recommendation passed 5-4, and the next evening the full board approved the closures at a special meeting. Rutherford Elementary would stay open for two and a half more years, close for seven, and then be reopened by the same district that shut it.
The plan to close Rutherford Elementary
The closure came out of a facilities review. According to The Volcano, whose 2018 account was written from the side of the people who later occupied the school, the district's 2013-2023 facilities plan had proposed demolishing the building and rebuilding it, and a 2015 update shifted to closing it because a rebuild of the core of the school would cost more than sending its students elsewhere. A 60-day consultation began in September 2015.
By November 25, staff had a firm recommendation. Rutherford would close by June 2017, and nearby Frank J. Ney Elementary would get a new wing for some of the displaced students. The catch was money: the B.C. Ministry of Education had not committed to the expansion. Superintendent John Blain told the Nanaimo News Bulletin the district needed to be ready if "flexible monies" came out of the ministry, for instance when another project fell through. The same package closed Woodlands Secondary, moved Learn at Home to the Mount Benson site and Skills for Life to Georgia Avenue School, and rearranged the Cedar elementaries. Cedar had already been through a bigger reversal: Cedar Community Secondary School closed in June 2014 and reopened in September 2016.
Who argued for it, and who fought it
The board's case was arithmetic. The district said it faced a $2.7-million structural deficit, and Rae, the board chair, said school closures were the alternative to layoffs. "The alternative, if we don't close schools, is to lay off our workers, cut programs, and that affects the classroom directly," he said. He also made clear the vote was conditional. Staff would write a business case for the Ney wing, and if the ministry turned it down, "it's over. The school stays open."
Parents organized against it under the name Rutherford Open and Thriving. The Volcano wrote that the group held rallies, gathered petitions and wrote letters, and that parents were stung by Rae's vote because he had once campaigned against school closures himself, as a member of Save Cedar Schools.
Then came a long wait. In late September 2016 the board moved the Rutherford project to the top of its five-year capital plan, the list it sends the province. Rae said Education Minister Mike Bernier had been non-committal at a meeting three weeks earlier, and that if no money came the district would have to spend on Rutherford instead. "It's not in great shape, so if the school stays open, we're going to have to spend some money," he said.
For families it was limbo. Kathy Schneider, a member of the parent advisory council, told the Bulletin it had been 18 months since the closure was announced, and that she had weighed moving her eight-year-old son early, since she would rather do it in Grade 3 than Grade 7, and saw no point enrolling her daughter in kindergarten at a school that might close. "They haven't told us no, but they haven't told us yes either," Rae said of the ministry.
The money arrives, and the school closes
The answer came in January 2017. The ministry approved $1.3 million toward the Frank J. Ney wing, and Rae told NanaimoNewsNOW that Rutherford would close in June 2018, with the new classrooms expected by that September. "We're happy and we're surprised," he said, noting that the ministry had said it was handing out money only for seismic work and fast-growing districts.
He laid out the comparison the board had relied on. The district estimated eight new classrooms at Ney, enough for about 200 students, at $5 million. Upgrading Rutherford, which needed major seismic work, would cost about $18 million. Ney was 17 years old; Rutherford had opened 53 years earlier. Rutherford had 203 students that year in a building with room for 317, while Ney had 237 students in space meant for 205. Rae added that McGirr, Randerson Ridge and Frank J. Ney were all within roughly two kilometres.
Parents were not persuaded. "I am upset but not surprised," Maureen Shakespeare of Rutherford Open and Thriving wrote on Facebook. Blain said no staff would lose their jobs, because the jobs and the students would simply move. Rae made one more promise: the board would keep the land. "Because we want to keep it, because we do believe some time down the road it's a valuable piece of property to have," he said. "We can't afford it right now."
Three months empty: the Schoolhouse Squat
Rutherford closed at the end of June 2018. On October 5, a group of activists and homeless people cut the locks, broke windows and went in with food and supplies, the Times Colonist later reported from court. They were protesting an injunction the City of Nanaimo had obtained to remove the tent city in its downtown, and their plan was to move homeless people into the building. Some climbed to the roof and hung banners. The next morning RCMP officers and the Emergency Response Team, with a fire department ladder truck, took them down. In total 22 people were arrested. On subsidized housing in Nanaimo, BC Housing gives no waiting time at all, saying only that demand far exceeds supply.
What it cost depends on who is counting. Rae publicly estimated the damage at more than $100,000, according to The Volcano, which disputed the figure and argued that most of the damage was done by police breaking down doors or had been there before the occupation. The school district later put its costs at more than $70,000, including security guards it hired afterward for fear of a second occupation. In May 2021 two participants pleaded guilty to mischief and received conditional discharges, 12 months of probation and $1,000 in restitution to the district, the same sentence two others had received in October 2020.
Why the district changed its mind
The building did not stay empty. In 2021-22 it became a swing school for Pleasant Valley Elementary, whose students moved in while their own school had seismic upgrades. The district upgraded data and wi-fi, added water bottle filling stations and improved heating and ventilation for them.
Meanwhile the north end filled up. At its June 22, 2022, meeting the board voted unanimously to reopen Rutherford in 2024 or 2025, depending on the enrolment count that fall, and to redraw boundaries for Frank J. Ney, McGirr and Randerson Ridge. Board chair Charlene McKay said what was "really obvious" to her was that "the bike racks used to be full and they weren't full any more because the kids are coming from somewhere else."
The numbers held up. In October 2023, secretary-treasurer Mark Walsh reported that Ney had 441 students, up 20 from the year before, and École Hammond Bay 388, up 13, with the whole catchment area up 46. New apartment buildings near Randerson Ridge were part of the reason. Trustees reaffirmed a September 2025 opening and set up a working group of school, district and parent council members to plan it. "It's a tough conversation, particularly when you're changing boundaries — I think opening a school could be as hard as closing one, frankly," Walsh told NanaimoNewsNOW the following spring.
Drawing a catchment from scratch
The hardest part was finding students without emptying other schools. On May 15, 2024, the board endorsed draft boundaries that required students who would be in kindergarten to Grade 6 in September 2025, and who lived in the new Rutherford catchment, to transfer, and moved Departure Bay students from the Oakridge and Stephenson Point areas to Frank J. Ney, which the district estimated would affect 80 to 100 children. Walsh wrote that without mandatory transfers the school would depend on volunteers, which he called unworkable. The new catchment stretched west to Brickyard, McGirr and Turner roads and east to Westdale Road, and Walsh called it "one of the most walkable catchments in the district." If you live near the top of Oakridge, a road planned in the next decade is meant to put you within walking distance of Ney as well.
The squeeze was real. Departure Bay, Randerson Ridge, McGirr and Ney together were at 120 per cent of capacity, Walsh said, and he put the share of "our kids" in portables that would no longer be needed at twenty per cent. He expected 250 to 275 students at Rutherford in the first year, in a building with room for 340 without portables. The province put in $900,000 toward the reopening and the district set aside $600,000 for physical upgrades and equipment such as desks. Board chair Greg Keller, whose own children were at Rutherford when it closed, called the school the heart of the community.
Accounts of the grade range differed while the plan was being drawn. NanaimoNewsNOW described a K-7 school in May 2024; a month later the Bulletin reported that the district was suggesting K-6 at first, so that older students could lead from the start. The provincial school directory now lists Rutherford as K-7, and the school's own page welcomes students "starting Kindergarten, or Grade 7." The school reopened in a district that dates its rural side to 1942, when School District 68's merger folded 19 small boards around Nanaimo into one.
Where Rutherford stands now
The school reopened for 2025-26 under principal Mike Lundine, previously at Rock City Elementary, and its website now speaks of "this amazing community school" being reopened. The building's oldest problem has not gone away. A 2016 report by KMBR Architects Planners rated the two-storey classroom block high risk in an earthquake, and Walsh said in 2024 that Rutherford would go back on the seismic list, behind Nanaimo District Secondary and Ladysmith Intermediate. The regional earthquake risk behind those ratings is mapped in the earthquake map of Vancouver Island. Rae's reason for keeping the land in 2017 turned out to be the one that mattered: the district never sold it, and the seismic upgrade he said the school needed is still waiting its turn.
Questions
Is Rutherford Elementary open?
Yes. Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools reopened it for the 2025-26 school year after it had been closed since June 2018. The provincial school directory lists it as a kindergarten to Grade 7 school.
Where is Rutherford Elementary School?
It is at 5840 Hammond Bay Road in north Nanaimo. McGirr, Randerson Ridge and Frank J. Ney elementary schools are all nearby; in 2017 the board chair put them within roughly two kilometres.
Who is the principal of Rutherford Elementary?
Mike Lundine, who had been principal of Rock City Elementary, was named to lead the reopened school. The school's website lists him as principal.
Why did Rutherford Elementary close?
The school district said it faced a $2.7-million structural deficit in 2015 and needed to cut space. Its leaders also argued that adding a wing at Frank J. Ney Elementary for about $5 million was far cheaper than the roughly $18 million it estimated Rutherford's upgrades would cost.
How close was the vote to close Rutherford?
Very close. The board's business committee passed the recommendation 5-4 on December 1, 2015, and the full board approved the closures at a special meeting the next night.
What was the Schoolhouse Squat?
On October 5 and 6, 2018, a group of activists and homeless people broke into the empty school to protest the City of Nanaimo's injunction against the downtown tent city. Police arrested 22 people, according to the Times Colonist.
What was Rutherford used for while it was closed?
From 2021-22 it served as a swing school for Pleasant Valley Elementary students while their own building had seismic upgrades. The district upgraded data and wi-fi, heating and ventilation for that use.
How many students go to Rutherford Elementary?
Before the reopening, the district's secretary-treasurer estimated 250 to 275 students in the first year, in a building with room for 340 without portables. The school's own website gives two different figures, so the district is the place to ask for a current count.
Did Rutherford reopen as a K-6 or a K-7 school?
Reports differed during planning. A June 2024 Nanaimo News Bulletin story said the district suggested opening as K-6 at first, while NanaimoNewsNOW reported a K-7 school in May 2024. The provincial directory and the school's welcome page now describe kindergarten to Grade 7.
Does Rutherford Elementary still need seismic work?
Yes. The district said in 2024 that Rutherford would go back on the seismic upgrade list, but at a lower priority than schools such as Nanaimo District Secondary and Ladysmith Intermediate.
Sources
- Closure of Woodlands, Rutherford recommended, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2015-11-25
- UPDATE: Nanaimo school board votes to close schools, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2015-12-02
- Rutherford school tops district's capital project priority list, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2016-10-04
- Nanaimo's Frank J. Ney School to be expanded, Rutherford closing, NanaimoNewsNOW, 2017-01-26
- Who destroyed Rutherford Elementary? Separating myth from fact about Nanaimo's Schoolhouse Squat, The Volcano, 2018-10-23
- Nanaimo school occupiers ordered to pay restitution to district, Times Colonist, 2021-05-13
- Nanaimo school board votes unanimously to re-open Rutherford, project planning can begin, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2022-06-25
- Rutherford Elementary confirmed for September 2025 re-opening, NanaimoNewsNOW (106.9 The Wolf), 2023-10-12
- Nanaimo school district plans to form committee to re-open Rutherford by 2025, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2023-10-19
- Trustees endorse draft changes to Nanaimo elementary school catchment boundaries, NanaimoNewsNOW (106.9 The Wolf), 2024-05-16
- 'It's a tough conversation:' SD68 to launch catchment adjustment consultations, NanaimoNewsNOW (106.9 The Wolf), 2024-05-23
- Populating Rutherford an intricate exercise for Nanaimo school district, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 2024-06-08
- Our School: Rutherford Elementary, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools
- Rutherford Elementary School Reports, Government of British Columbia, Student Success
