The current funding model for building new schools and replacing schools that need seismic upgrades is “broken” and needs to be changed to reflect growth in developing neighbourhoods, says School District 43.
Chair Kerri Palmer Isaak said at the board of education meeting last Tuesday that the district needs to continue to press this point in talks with the provincial government.
”We would like to see that model fixed. There needs to be a new trigger for when new schools are built,” she said as she described the district’s presentation to the select standing committee on finance and government services.
Under the current funding model, the district has to prove that upon opening, a new school will immediately be full, resulting in years of delays and overcrowding in other schools while children attend schools outside their neighbourhoods.
This problem has become particularly acute on Burke Mountain, where families have waited for a new elementary school to be built while new blocks of housing are built every month and, with a middle and secondary school still years away, have written petitions expressing frustration that their children will never be able to attend a school in their own neighbourhood before graduation.
The concerns come as SD43 plans a meeting for 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 9 at Leigh elementary school to inform Burke families on the progress of schools planning and construction.
In an interview with The Tri-City News, Palmer Isaac, the trustee for Anmore and Belcarra, said the board understands parents’ concerns and intends to lobby the provincial government to change the funding model to get money earlier for new schools and additions, and rebuilds for schools that would be in danger of collapse in an earthquake.
One idea would be to begin funding new schools as soon as a neighbourhood plan or rezoning has been approved to ensure that schools can open in time with housing.
Palmer Isaac said the school district is working with the city of Coquitlam on solutions that could see schools funded the way sewer, water and other infrastructure is planned and funded.
“We’re still working on the process on how this would work,” she said, noting that the province would likely require some guarantee that once a community is planned with a school, the area zoning wouldn’t change just because the market has softened and developers want to build something besides housing.
As for assurances about enrolment, Palmer Isaak said the school district is typically good at making accurate projections.
The call for a new funding model for building schools comes as the district is dealing with a space squeeze as the result of the implementation of restored contract language triggered by a Supreme Court of Canada decision.
Even though several daycares had to be evicted and money was put into repurposing computer labs into classrooms, the district still needs 14 additions for next September at a cost of $14.8 million but as yet has not been given assurances that the funding is coming.
The lag between provincial funding and school need has resulted in the district fronting costs for projects before it has received provincial approval.
“With Irvine [elementary] as an example, we had architectural drawings done, site work done ahead of time without even the guarantee of funding. The districts are starting to take on a bit of a risk that they won’t be funded,” Palmer Isaak said, noting that SD43 is not the only district with a growing population that is struggling to get new schools in place.
“This is not just about our district or municipality, this is province-wide — anywhere where there is rapid growth. Surrey would be the prime example, they’re always trying to play catch-up with new schools.”
