As 2022 draws to a close, we’re looking back at the top 10 New Westminster news stories of the year.
Yesterday, we brought you a reminder of the city’s $36-million plan to create a network of cycling routes around the city — part of the city’s All Ages and Abilities Active Transportation Network Plan, which aims to develop a core active transportation network and to connect neighbourhoods and schools. It’s a plan that’s generated a great deal of comment from residents of the city, both from those who love the plan and those who don’t.
Today, we’re recapping number 6 with another issue that has generated a great deal of public discussion this year: the crisis of space in New Westminster’s schools, and the impact that’s having on the community.
‘State of crisis’: New Westminster schools grapple with overcrowding, rapid growth
There’s been some good news on the school construction front in 2022, as the brand-new Skwo:wech Elementary School opened its doors to students after March break (only slightly later than hoped), and work on the new Queen Elizabeth Elementary School got underway.
But School District 40 is still struggling to keep up with fast-growing enrolment as the city’s population growth and rapidly densifying central core put continued pressure on its already at-capacity schools.
The school district suffered a blow this spring when it was shut out of the B.C. Ministry of Education’s major capital funding announcements. It didn’t get any of the $200 million-plus it had asked for, including money it wanted for a much-needed new elementary school and a new middle school in the Fraser River zone
But the district did get a kernel of good news, as the ministry acknowledged the need for a new elementary school and cleared SD40 to begin working on a concept plan.
Though no funding has been announced, the district has pushed forward with plans. In September, the district revealed its plans for a new 600-student elementary school on the site adjacent to Simcoe Park that’s currently occupied by Fraser River Middle School and the district offices.
But that school won’t be finished until at least 2027, which leaves the district scrambling for space in the meantime.
The pressure is particularly acute at École Qayqayt Elementary School, where the district announced it would introduce a lottery for kindergarten registration starting in September 2023.
A short-term capacity review also led the district to make some tough decisions this year.
In the fall, the school board announced that New Westminster Family Place would have to vacate the community space it occupies at Qayqayt, and that infant-toddler daycare centres at Qayqayt and nearby Fraser River Middle School would also be forced out to make way for more classrooms.
The move of the daycare centres has stirred up concern among families, who say the planned move of the centres to other neighbourhoods — to F.W. Howay Elementary School in Massey Victory Heights and to Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School in the West End — will pose enormous challenges for families who rely on proximity to the downtown core.
Other changes may be on the horizon in 2023.
The school district is also undertaking a review of its programs of choice (French immersion, Montessori and Home Learners) — with a focus on the educational needs of each program, but also with a view to figuring out how they will fit in district facilities into the future.
How will these stories end?
That remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain: The crisis of space in School District 40 will still be in the headlines in 2023.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca
