Editor: Getting approval for new school construction requires thorough planning and a very strong case to present to the Ministry of Education. Langley School District is not aware of any new schools that were approved through the five year capital plan process in the 2009-2010 school year. Lynn Fripps Elementary School, which is scheduled to open in Langley in September, 2012, was approved under a special full-day Kindergarten process.
In a May 17 presentation to the board, which is now posted on the Langley School District website, secretary-treasurer David Green noted that the priorities in Langley School District’s five year capital plan are considered by the Ministry of Education, along with submissions from 59 other districts. Projects selected at that stage then form part of the Ministry of Education’s submission to the provincial government’s Capital Planning Secretariat, which allocates capital spending amongst all ministries.
Given that context, anything other than an ironclad case will not succeed. That is why Langley School District has shifted its priorities from the Routley neighbourhood, where a new school will not be approved in the foreseeable future, to Yorkson, where there is growing development pressure and where the district can make a strong case. This shift has been communicated through consultations with school communities in the R.E. Mountain Secondary School catchment, and through a process of ongoing dialogue with the Township of Langley.
To say that a school was ‘planned’ for the Routley neighbourhood is not accurate. Langley School District owns or has an interest in a number of properties which are designated for possible future school use.
The district knows schools will not be built on all those properties and that some of them will likely be disposed of, again, through a process that requires approval from the Ministry of Education. The fact is, Langley School District does not approve new school construction, the Ministry of Education does, and requires a thorough, convincing plan.
Acquiring a site in Yorkson in exchange for the Routley site may, in fact, strengthen the district’s ability to earn approval for a new school which will benefit everyone in the Willoughby area. Land acquisition is a significant component of new school project costs, so if the district has a site already available, where it is needed, it reduces the cost of a project, thus increasing the likelihood of approval.
So from Langley School District’s perspective, retaining the Routley site could prove to be a serious mistake.
Craig Spence, communications manager,
Langley School District
