Editor: We, the Langley Secondary School (LSS) Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), are writing to express our displeasure and frustration with what we see as irresponsible journalism. Your editorial published on Jan. 6 misrepresented facts as they have been presented to the parents of the LSS, H.D. Stafford Middle School (HDS) and our family of elementary schools.
Many of these parents have already endured the previous brutal journey which resulted in the closure of Murrayville elementary, the redesigning of the catchments for Alice Brown and Peterson Road Elementary, the reconfiguring of the elementary schools to K-5, (making HDS a middle school from a high school) and moving all HDS secondary students into LSS. Regardless of how awful it is that we are now being told the building isn't good enough and may be too costly to repair (something which was brought to the 2008 school board's and senior administration team?' attention at that time), we find ourselves thrust again into the middle of the spotlight.
Your suggestion that LSS could be closed and the students moved into HDS as a new secondary by the fall is incorrect. To renovate HDS middle school to bring it back to a secondary school status and to renovate Simonds Elementary to be a viable middle school will take time and money; money which the government has to approve based on a submission by School District 35.
Your editorial has created an unnecessary disruption in our school communities. Many students are experiencing anxiety based upon your written word. Also, by stating that LSS could be closed by next fall you may scare away potential and existing students from registering at LSS for the next school year, doing further harm to our school and community. In our opinion, you owe the district and our community an apology.
To the public at large we want to say what an amazing school LSS has become. The new district senior management, the school-based administration team, the teachers, staff, parents and students have all worked tirelessly to create a welcoming, vibrant learning environment. The list of accomplishments is too long to write. We understand that change must come based on the state of our building, but we believe that change will be done in a cohesive, mature manner that teaches the students how to create transitions properly. Hopefully the press will report on that aspect of our story.
Langley Secondary School PAC
Editor's note — The Times apologizes for the suggestion made in the editorial that the school could close by this September. The mistake in the editorial arose because, in every single past situation, when the board of education began a formal consultation period with parents and the community over a possible school closure, the intent (and subsequent action) was to close the school by the end of June.
This situation is very different, as board chair Rob McFarlane has informed us (and also stated in a letter published in The Times on Jan. 13). While the school may indeed be closed, it will not occur by this September. There are a number of possible scenarios which the board is considering which affect LSS, H.D. Stafford, Simonds, Brookswood Secondary, Mountain Secondary and other schools in Willoughby. Because of that complexity, the process to come to a final decision will be a lengthy one. Consultations are well underway and the board will be making its first decision on what to do next at its meeting on Jan. 27
Frank Bucholtz, editor, Langley Times