The next time the community will have a chance to consult on the New Westminster Secondary School replacement project will be in September.
The school district has postponed the second round of consultations on the project until the fall after comments it received during the first consultation period late last year.
“It was nothing surprising,” said Pat Duncan, superintendent of the New Westminster school district. “It was affirming.”
Duncan said an overwhelming number of people were interested in seeing what the new school will look like once complete, so the district decided to move its second round of consultations to early fall so folks can have a look at some of the design elements that could be included in the new school.
It doesn’t, however, mean the public will get to decide between one option and another for the new high school, Duncan said.
A summary of the feedback received between Nov. 7 and Dec. 5 of last year was released last week. It includes the number of people who participated in the consultations, be it through public open houses or small group meetings, or online and through mail. In all, 214 people took the time to provide their thoughts on the project and what they envision for the new school.
Still outstanding is the Golder Associates report, which is expected any day now. The report will provide more detail to the district on where exactly the new school can be built on the site.
The school district received funding for the project last June, and is well on track to have it complete sometime in the late fall of 2019, Duncan said.
“Our hope is, working with the city is it becomes this very desirable place to be. When you think about all this greenspace and this beautiful new school that will be architecturally very attractive, it’ll make this sort of a hub,” he said.
