New Westminster, BC (July 12, 2018): New West Progressive school trustee candidates marked the 100 day countdown to the civic election by releasing the first component of its “Our Schools, Our City – Together” platform. It includes a commitment to establish a new City and Schools Advisory Committee which in part will help better coordinate capital projects such as the planning and construction of new schools and community amenities. The plan includes a commitment to conduct a thorough review of the developer cost charges to determine if more funds can be directed to the school district to help build desperately needed public amenities.
The new advisory committee will be established within 90 days of the civic election and will be comprised of elected officials and public service staff from both the city and school board as well as a student liaison – it will regularly seek input from parents and students in the district.
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“As a rapidly growing city in a relatively small geographical area with limited space for amenities and green spaces, it’s critically important we make sure our school facilities are able to serve the diverse needs of our community,” says candidate Danielle Connelly. “Our plan requires everyone work together with a clear goal of maximizing resources, reducing overlap and ensuring both schools and the community benefit with regard to community spaces, capital planning, technology, innovation, health and safety.”
Bryn Ward, city council candidate, agrees more needs to be done. “As a starting point, we plan to immediately introduce school board representation on the city’s Voluntary Amenity Contribution – Public Benefits Team.” This team works with developers offering amenity contributions as part of variance applications and development proposals.
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“We’re also committed to determining if developer contributions can be increased as a means of supporting the development of new public amenities like playgrounds and community spaces. This would allow our school board to better focus on supporting needs directly related to students and teachers.”
“One need only look at the loss of student and public active outdoor space that is occurring at our schools including; Queen Elizabeth Elementary, Ecole Glenbrook Middle School and McBride Elementary with the addition of so many portables.” says Connelly. “They are losing basketball courts, soccer pitches and activity space. The city and school board should have been working well in advance to explore ways to replace these valuable amenities,” says Connelly. “With two new schools about to be built in New Westminster, the time is now for us to ensure we make our new schools multi-functional to meet the growing needs for child care, community groups, arts, culture and sports.”
Lisa Falbo and Cyrus Sy are also running for school trustee with the New West Progressives. The entire “Our Schools, Our City – Together” plan will be released later this year. To read more about recently announced campaign platform initiatives from the New West Progressives click here.
BACKGROUND:
School Sites Acquisition Charge: SSAC is a charge per dwelling unit to be paid by residential developers. The charge is collected by local government and transferred to school boards. The money collected can only be used to help pay for new school sites needed as a result of new residential development.
Developer Cost Charges: Under Section 559 of the Local Government Act, a municipality can establish development cost charges (DCCs), which are charges levied on new development to assist in funding the cost of upgrading or providing infrastructure services, and acquiring and developing parkland needed to support new development. DCCs can be collected to help pay for transportation, drainage, water and sanitary infrastructure, as well as parkland acquisition and development. To learn more click here.
Joint Use Agreements: They are agreements that can be signed between the City of New Westminster and the School District which allow both parties to work closely together to ensure that facilities managed by both are available for additional student programming as well as community activities and events.