Former student Angel Sampson says it's difficult to stand next to the small wooden schoolhouse where she attended class at the Tsartlip Indian Day School.

"It's just a reminder of those horrible days. So many people were abused here," she said.

The former school building is located on the Saanich peninsula, near Victoria. It is next to an elementary school and a high school operated by the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board.

Sampson has written to the board to ask if the old schoolhouse can be torn down to remove the visual reminder for survivors in the community.

"I think something more needs to be done to have healing actually take place for our people," she said.

"To people who have no memories of it, I guess it is OK. But to everybody else who has lived here all their lives, it's got to go."

Tsartlip Indian Day School class. Angel Sampson is in the second row, fourth from the left, in the plaid jacket. (Angel Sampson)

As many as 200,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend federally-run Indian day schools, such as the one in Tsartlip, between the late 1800s and the 1970s.

They were similar to Indian Residential Schools, except day students went home to their families after the school day.

Survivors of the day schools were excluded from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement reached in 2006.

In response to a class action lawsuit from survivors, the federal government recently made a settlement offer for abuses suffered at the day schools.

Angel Sampson stands on the porch of the last remaining building from the Tsartlip Indian Day School. (Megan Thomas/CBC)

The proposed settlement offers compensation of $10,000 to each student who was harmed. Those who suffered physical and sexual abuse are eligible for $50,000 to $200,000.

A federal court still has to decide if the settlement is in the best interests of surviving students. Former students are being invited to submit comment until May 3.

Sampson attended the Tsartlip Indian Day School for several years in the mid-1960s. She says she suffered physical and emotional abuse during her time there.

The school board says the old schoolhouse is currently being used as a language classroom.

It says Sampson's request to see the building torn down will be considered at a meeting later this month.

Listen to the full interview with Angel Sampson from CBC Radio's On The Island