Editor: A few months ago, we received the devastating news that Langley would not receive funding for new schools in the upcoming year. Our Willoughby high school (R.E. Mountain) is 400 students over capacity with 16 portables. Within six years, it’s expected to be 700 or more students over capacity, with no possibility of supporting this many students.
Our brand new middle school opened this September. It’s a beautiful school. One to be proud of, for sure. The sad news is we’re almost at capacity in the first year and we’ll be using portables by next September.
We received provincial funding for two new elementary schools a few years ago. These schools were celebrated by our community, but next year it is predicted all five elementary schools in Willoughby will be over capacity. We will not have one school in our neighbourhood at or under capacity.
We have always been told funding for new schools would come when the students were here. They’ve been here for a while and our neighbourhood is growing daily. Take a short drive through Willoughby and you’ll be shocked by the number of new developments popping up everywhere. From one week to the next, I am surprised by land being cleared for more housing.
Despite the growing population of students, the provincial government’s promise of funding to support existing students has not materialized, and we are now left with severely overcrowded schools. We’ll soon be in a position of having to bus our children across Langley so they can go to school. It wouldn’t be the first time.
We live in a highly-developed neighbourhood with a large population of children. Why should families have to bus their children 20-30 minutes to a rural neighbourhood with no city transit, so they can attend school? That’s not acceptable.
I am tired of hearing my child’s education is at the bottom of the funding list. The Liberal government is cutting funding for education at all levels. How can we build an educated population that is competitive on the world stage, when education is not considered a priority?
How can we continue to welcome new people to B.C. and build communities when our government is not willing to spend money on the infrastructure required to support these people? It’s time to invest in our children and our communities. We need funding for new schools now. The health of our community and the success of our children depend on it.
Evelyn Forrest,
Langley
