Finally there is some good news for the cash-strapped New Westminster school district.
More than $2.35 million is slated to come into the district's coffers after the board of education passed a bylaw this week enabling it to sell an empty property it owns in Queensborough to Platform Development Limited.
Funds from the sale, which is expected to close on March 31, must go toward building a new administration office for the district.
According to Education Ministry rules, capital proceeds must be used for building projects, not operating costs, board of education chair Jonina Campbell explained.
But the sale will still help the district's bottom line.
"It's good news for our district, because what it means (is) we will be able to get ourselves out of a situation where we are paying for a lease at Columbia Square for an administrative space. It will free up that money to then be used for students in the district," Campbell noted.
The move would save the district the approximately $700,000 it pays annually to rent Columbia Square downtown.
The district has been dealing with serious financial shortfalls in recent years and still owes the provincial government almost $5 million.
The board has turned up every couch cushion, looking for ways to save money, including taking steps to reduce leasing costs. So far, it has moved both the Homelearners' and an alternate program out of rental buildings.
The district is in the midst of building two new schools, including a middle school for grade 6 to 8 students.
Campbell said the board will discuss the $17.6-million middle school project at its meeting on March 11.
"We are proceeding on the new school project as planned," she said, urging parents whose children will be attending the middle school to attend Tuesday night's meeting.
Campbell said the board will likely discuss where the new board office would be built at that meeting.
In the meantime, she didn't want to comment on the planned location until the meeting had occurred.
