Dear Editor,
I would like to commend the Richmond News for being a strong voice of the community and keeping the citizens fully informed and involved in issues that are extremely relevant to Richmond.
Take for example, the issue of school closures in Richmond. The editorials and coverage by reporters have done an excellent job in this regard.
Your latest feature, “Closing time,” sparks questions and the follow-up coverage by staff reporter Graeme Wood was excellent.
It is rather unfortunate that most of the schools on the closure list are in west Richmond.
During the past few years, Richmond, in general, and west Richmond in particular, have changed drastically.
A lot of under-occupied/empty mega homes and the inability of a lot of citizens to afford housing in Richmond have contributed greatly to this problem.
The provincial government’s threshold of 95 per cent capacity and the seismic upgrading costs have made the situation even worse.
All of this has put our Board of Education in a very difficult situation.
Each one of the schools on the closure list is crucial to the school community in that area.
Our local schools serve the community in so many ways in addition to being the learning centres for our children.
Of course, keeping all of them open would be the best solution.
However, this may be wishful thinking.
During the past few years, Richmond’s population growth has been mainly in the City Centre area.
Lately, a lot of high-rises have been either ready or under construction around the Oval.
Rather than building new schools to accommodate children in these growing areas, it may be worthwhile to consider placing them in the schools in west Richmond on the list for closures due to low enrollment numbers.
Even busing these students from the high-rises to the west Richmond schools may prove to be more economical in the long run.
For example, James Thompson elementary, at the corner of Westminster Highway and No. 1 Road, is only a five minutes drive from the Oval area.
Similarly, a number of schools on the closure list are not too far away from the City Centre. This may help keep them open.
At the same time, as a vibrant community, we should lobby the provincial government to lower the threshold of 95 per cent capacity and provide more resources to the school district.
In this regard, our three MLAs — Linda Reid, Teresa Wat and John Yap — should be of great assistance.
Balwant Sanghera
Richmond
