School District 43 is hiring a consultant to look at ways to generate revenue for new schools by selling or leasing district property.
Board chair Melissa Hyndes said Thursday new schools are needed in the Burke Mountain area and the district could get them built sooner if it brought extra funding to the table.
The board is looking for a firm or team to help it develop a strategic plan, which "may include land development, leasing or sale of board lands to provide funds for the board to implement various capital projects," according to a Request for Qualifications on BC Bid.
Qualified firms have until Jan. 12 to respond and Hyndes said it may take a while to choose one depending on how many are interested. There is no timeline yet to complete the asset management plan, Hyndes said, however the board has an aggressive work plan for the next few months and wants to get the project underway soon.
She said the district has no intention to close schools to free up more land for sale or lease but will be looking at ways to maximize revenue from its current properties.
"We are the largest property owner in the Tri-Cities," Hyndes said. "How do you manage that?"
One of the reasons for looking at land assets is the shortage of funds available for capital projects. Although the district has several projects on the go for seismic replacements, the only new school being built is a middle school in Anmore, which was unanimously approved by the village council Tuesday.
According to Hyndes, most new capital funding is expected to go to Surrey, the second largest but fastest-growing district in the province. If SD43, B.C.'s third largest district, wants to move forward with new schools, it may need to contribute its own funding.
Meanwhile, the board approved Tuesday the release of $3.5 million in Annual Facilities Grants (AFG) money for school maintenance in order to qualify for another $1.8 million. The cash comes from the province to maintain schools and was used for ventilation and lighting upgrades at Cape Horn, Harbour View and R.C. MacDonald elementary schools. Dozens of other projects - including washroom renovations, painting, door replacements, clock replacements and lighting upgrades - are also being completed this fall.
But the district is concerned maintenance funding is still inadequate to keep up with repairs to aging schools. Two years, ago the district only got half its annual AFG allocation and has been playing catch-up ever since, with risk management criteria being used to set maintenance priorities.
According to Ken Niven, SD43's assistant director of maintenance, the district only has half the funds it needs to keep up with maintenance and new issues come up every day. For example, the district is looking at ways to use AFG funding to make schools look better after seismic repairs by painting and installing new flooring.
"It's important for the occupants of the school to appreciate what's being done or they may feel the finished product wasn't necessarily worth the aggravation," he explained.
The maintenance department also has to deal with immediate concerns, such as the breaking of a water main at Port Moody secondary school last week that resulted in so much water pressure under the school's driveway that the pavement was pushed up. Emergency repairs were made Sunday - without it the side of the hill next to the school could have been weakened.
"If the water main would have burst, it would have moved a lot of material," Niven said. The department has also had to deal with electrical problems at several schools in recent weeks that resulted in lengthy power outages.
