Parents at F.W. Howay learned last week that they wouldn't have to dig up an extra $4,000 to pay for the removal of the school's old playground, thanks to the Rotary Club of New Westminster.
Paul Johansen, a member of the district parent advisory council, told The Record that the funds will go toward building the new playground, and the parent council can now use the extra cash to pay for the removal.
"This is a project that Rotary helped fund when the playground was originally built," Rotary president Kevin Gordon told The Record.
Earlier this month, Johansen complained about the "extra burden" the surprise cost of tearing down the old structure would put on the small school's parent council.
"Before, the district would always send a crew up there and get rid of it for you," he said at the time. "This is an extra burden on the PAC that we didn't anticipate."
The province visited the New Westminster school district last June to announce $75,000 in grants for two local schools for playground funding. F.W. Howay received $50,000 and Queen Elizabeth Elementary received $25,000.
Meanwhile, the school district is currently dealing with a hefty $2.8 million deficit from last year, and is working toward trimming more than $2 million from this year's budget.
