It was probably fairly easy to predict.
Since we’ve been covering the fight for a new secondary school in New Westminster during the last couple of decades, the education situation has shifted.
Enrolment forecasts have changed as dates for a potential new high school have changed. Space needs change as students’ education needs change.
So, we understand that it is challenging to plan and adjust those plans on the fly. After all, how many education ministers in how many different provincial governments have had their fingerprints on this file?
We still remember when Joyce Murray was the city’s Liberal MLA and announced a new school that included a lot of shiny new bells and whistles. Those bells and whistles would be pretty old and tarnished by now.
So, it’s understandable that by the time the latest plan for a new high school achieved final approval even those plans might be a bit dated.
So, wouldn’t it make sense to plan for something farther into the future and build in a bit of a buffer?
And, if you didn’t do that, wouldn’t it now make sense to adjust the plan and add a fourth floor on the current school plan?
We think it makes good common sense.
Although we understand how the ministry, after budgeting $106.5 million, might not want to go back and revisit the whole thing. But at this point, what’s another $6 million to make sure that you’ve got it right?
The current plans have already been criticized for not leaving enough storage space for certain departments. Surely, another floor would solve those issues and ensure that all New Westminster students could go to a high school in their own city.
The alternative long-range plan to build a second high school seems full of logistical and monetary issues. Acquiring land being the main one.
And while, in the very long term, another high school will probably be necessary, before that time a fourth floor on the new high school will significantly relieve the pressure to start planning for the second high school.
We know folks are pretty worn out from lobbying for the new high school. We get that everyone breathed a big sigh of relief when the date was set. But it’s time for another round of lobbying. This time it’s for a $6-million floor.
C’mon New West, we know you can do it!
