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School district ‘wish list’ submitted to province

Seismic upgrades and land acquisition among Langley’s requests to Ministry of Education
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Langley School District was able to tick a major item off its wish list Langley students with the announcement on Sept. 16 that a new high school will be built in Willoughby.

Seismic upgrades to existing schools, an expansion at crowded R.C. Garnett Elementary and land acquisitions to build two new elementary schools in Willoughby’s new Latimer neighbourhoods are among the items on a wish list submitted to the Ministry of Education by Langley School District.

The ministry required all school districts to submit a five-year capital plan by Friday, Sept. 30.

The district has managed to tick off a couple accomplishments since it last submitted a capital plan.

In early September, the provincial government was at R.E. Mountain Secondary to announce $55.2 million in funding of a new high school to be built adjacent to Mountain.

In June, the province, along with the Langley school district, announced it is rebuilding portions of Langley Secondary, the district’s oldest school.

Another $7.2 million has been earmarked for an elementary school in east Latimer.

The district is continuing with requests for land to relocate Willoughby Elementary and land in southwest Latimer, the report indicated.

Those two new elementary schools would be open for the 2021-22 school year, said David Green, the district’s secretary treasurer.

School district staff decided to remove the request for an elementary school at the James Anderson site, but have added a request for an elementary school for northeast Latimer for 2021-22.

In the last 10 years, enrolment in the Willoughby Slope area has increased by nine per cent, and is forecasted to grow by over 40 per cent in the next decade.

With respect to seismic upgrade requests, the planned upgrading of R.E. Mountain is requested for 2019-2020 to coincide with the conversion of that school to a middle school when the new Willoughby high school opens that same year.

Seismic upgrades at D.W. Poppy and Brookswood Secondary will also be needed.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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