The Royal City’s newest school board trustee is making good on one of her election promises.
Mary Lalji, who was officially sworn in during the June 28 meeting, tabled a motion asking staff to prepare a preliminary report on what it would cost to set up a bus service for Queensborough students attending New Westminster Secondary School. As it stands, students living in that neighbourhood have to either get a ride or take transit.
“(Parents) can’t make it to work on time. Once you cross that bridge, drop your kid off and come back, it’s just not feasible,” Lalji told the Record, adding the commute is often more than 30 minutes each way. “Our own kids are leaving the district. We talk about budgets. Well, how come we can’t get our own kids to our high school? It just doesn’t make sense.”
The mother-of-two added New Westminster’s geographical makeup is unique with a sizable portion of the population living over the Queensborough Bridge.
“It’s almost like they’re secluded from us, yet they are New Westminster, and that’s something I want to change, that environment, that Queensborough is New West, bottom line. We need to support that and we need to support our kids getting to school safely,” she said.
Lalji noted besides declining enrolment at NWSS, the district also faces losing provincial funding per student if something doesn’t change.
“It’s basically bringing more provincial funding to our high school because we’re getting our kids within our own district to attend our school. It’s simple math.”
The preliminary report, which will include a cost-benefit analysis, will be presented to the board in October. It will also look at other options, like partnering up with neighbouring school districts – Burnaby, Richmond and Delta – which already have an established bus service in place. Staff has also been instructed to look at alternate funding options such as a user-based model.
As for Lalji, she plans on making the trek from Queensborough to NWSS sometime this summer, once by transit and another time by foot.
“When people say, well it’s less than five kilometres, no that’s not the case. This is a very different issue. We have a bridge issue for our kids and it should be addressed,” she said.
