New Westminster – The New Westminster School District, in cooperation with the City of New Westminster, is continuing with the development of an action plan for school construction activity in the city. The action plan will commence with a public consultation phase soliciting feedback on proposed options during the month of November.

 

A joint task force including the Mayor, School Board Chair, City Administrator, Superintendent of Schools and a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Education, have held a number of meetings over the past 2 months to review issues relating to the cemetery at the NWSS site. The task force has also worked to identify possible sites for additional school construction in other areas of the city due to the constraints relating to the designation of a memorial park at the site of the high school.

 

“The Joint Task Force has worked together to come up with options that meet our needs for a replacement secondary school and a new west end middle school,” said John Woudzia, School District #40 Superintendent. “It has been a collaborative process and we are now ready to present options to the community.”

 

Joint Task Force efforts were guided by the following principles:

• Maintenance of the type and quality of community assets
• No net loss of current park space or facilities in the city
• Improved educational opportunities for students
• Shared-use of new assets for the benefit of community members
• Adherence to Provincial and Municipal regulatory requirements regarding school location and construction

 

The following options are being presented to the community for feedback:

A) Construction of an 1800 student secondary school within the NWSS site; construction of a middle-school at Grimston Park and renovation or replacement of John Robson School at the existing school and Simcoe Park site

 

B) Construction of an 1800 student secondary school within the NWSS site; construction of a new middle school at the current Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary site; construction of a new elementary school at Grimston Park and renovation or replacement of John Robson School at the existing school and Simcoe Park site

 

“It has been a long process, but the end result will be a net benefit in the form of shared community amenities and new schools for the citizens of New Westminster,” said Paul Daminato, New Westminster’s Chief Administrative Officer. “We look forward to the results of the public consultation process and moving forward.”

 

The two options will be presented to the community at public information sessions at New Westminster Secondary School library this Saturday, November 1 st and again on Tuesday, November 4th. In addition to feedback provided at the public information sessions, feedback forms will be available through the City of New Westminster and School District #40 websites.

 

-30-

Contact:

Jim Alkins, Project Director
School District #40
604-991-0486

 

Blair Fryer, Communications Manager
City of New Westminster
604-527-4688
bfryer@newwestcity.ca