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District, public weigh up future of schools

The first of two public meetings to weigh up the future for Richmond's schools kicked off Wednesday night.

The first of two public meetings to weigh up the future for Richmond's schools kicked off Wednesday night.

At the centre of discussion is where the school district will site a new city centre secondary school - forecast by a Collier's study to be vital within the next 10 to 15 years - and how they will fund it.

Only 50 people turned out for the first meeting at Cambie secondary, and the district is hoping more make the effort to get involved the future of Richmond's education system at the second opportunity next week.

"We're not seeing growth in the single-family neighbourhoods, but there are areas that are growing," said school board chair Donna Sargent.

"In developments such as the high towers (in the city centre) - there are children living in there.

"However, the (Collier) report suggests that it's more secondary children that are living in the towers. We're looking at the future and we don't see growth in the areas with the house and white picket fence."

The public meetings are all about getting the information from the study out there, said Sargent, and getting the public's feedback on "what they'd like the future of our schools to look like."

The second meeting takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Steveston-London secondary at 6600 Williams Rd.

Sargent said the district hired Collier to conduct a long-term facility plan to find out exactly where it needed to plan and for how many students.

"We are going to need more schools or school space by 2025, especially at Richmond (secondary) and MacNeill," she said.

"(Enrolment) has been declining, but that's starting to teeter off now. What we will definitely need is a secondary school in the city centre and we're talking to the public to find out where that might be.

"We still have to work on the numbers though; this is just a look into the future."

How the building of new schools or expansion of existing facilities will be funded is, not surprisingly, a question often raised by the public.

The primary obligation lies with the provincial government, but school districts are required to kick in financially as well.

But, as most people know, prime location land in Richmond does not come cheap.

"The public consistently asks us, 'what are you doing with your surplus land?' said Sargent.

"We've been working hard at trying to sell Steveston (the old Steveston secondary site) and we're looking at our current works yard and the Old Mitchell (elementary) site; we could sell that."

The sale of district land to fund the acquisition of other sites for new schools does take time, careful consideration and negotiation, admitted Sargent, adding that it's prudent to begin mapping out the future right now.

"Collier will come back a final report, which will fine tune the numbers on enrolment and make some general recommendations," she said.

As far as the much-talked about former Steveston secondary site, she said the district hopes to come up in the next few months with a plan that will satisfy everyone, including the Ministry of Education, which has put a freeze on any sale of the lot.

As well as indicating the need for a new high school in the city centre - perhaps at the foot of a highrise - Collier's study also suggests that a dramatic slide in enrolment at Sea Island elementary by 2025 should instigate a closure, while other secondary schools will be significantly under capacity by the same year.

Elementary schools, according to the report, that are closest to the city centre core will probably be well over capacity by 2025, indicating the need for a new elementary school in that area.

While similar schools further from the core will see considerable drops in student numbers by 2025.