The provincial government is waiting for the findings of a report before it approves funding for a replacement New Westminster Secondary School.
The detailed report, which will include the scope of the project, the estimated budget of the project and potential issues, is an integral part of the process for getting a new school built, said Ben Green, a Ministry of Education public affairs officer.
“It’s a matter of the district gathering some of this detailed information for the ministry so that we can move forward here,” Green said. “Ministry staff are still working very closely with district staff on this project, but there is work that needs to be done on the district level, as well to be submitted to the ministry so that they can take a detailed look at the project and move forward from there.”
The ministry supports the project, Green said, but the current cost estimates – upwards of $100 million – provided by the district are double what it typically costs to replace a similar-sized secondary school. The report will help mitigate risks and lower the overall cost estimates the district has provided, Green added. The government is waiting for that detailed information so it “can proceed and look to try and get this project moving forward more,” he added.
The government’s public affairs officer couldn’t comment on whether the significant cost of replacing the school is related to the fact that it was built over an old cemetery, but said the “ministry recognizes the importance of this project for staff, for students, for parents, for the community and is committed to continuing to work with the district staff on finding a solution that works for them, as well as for taxpayers of British Columbia.”
Despite the province’s request for a review of the site, district officials believe the plan is still to replace the aging high school.
“To my understanding, the plan remains that we are working to replace NWSS,” secretary treasurer Al Balanuik told The Record. “It’s important that all of the work that’s been done to date is with the goal of replacing.”
The evidence is being gathered to help make a case for funding for the project, which the ministry will bring to the government’s treasury division, superintendent John Gaiptman said.
“If they feel this gives them a stronger case with treasury, then that’s what they are doing,” he added. “If they feel that that gives them a stronger case, then I’m all for it.”
Balanuik and the district’s director of operations, Doug Templeton, met with the Ministry of Education’s capital department in Victoria on Oct. 2. The idea of “anything but a replacement school didn’t come up,” Balanuik said about the meeting.
Parents and local residents have waited well over a decade to get a replacement high school built. New Westminster Secondary School is the city’s only high school.
