Lake Country parents are being warned that criminals may move into the neighbourhood.
The Central Okanagan School District board will inform the parent advisory councils at all four schools that there is the possibility of a correctional facility being constructed within the immediate area.
“In the past, PACs have been concerned about the proximity of a facility to schools so we wanted to make them aware,” said Rolli Cacchioni, chairperson.
The provincial government owns land in the north end of Kelowna — on the opposite side of the boundary from Lake Country— that is zoned for a correctional centre.
The site has never been developed because of widespread opposition from Lake Country residents and the Okanagan Indian Band.
But the City of Kelowna has recently identified the site as suitable for such a use because the government is seeking Okanagan communities interested in being the location of a 360-cell jail by 2015.
The PACs will be urged to provide any opinions on a correctional facility to the District of Lake Country, which is consulting with the public on the issue.
“They can make presentations to the municipal council,” said Cacchioni.
Trustees have not taken a stand on the prospect of a prison being near Lake Country schools, but Cacchioni says that could occur once the final location is known.
“We don’t know if it will be there,” he said of the north Kelowna property.