The Willoughby Town Centre will not swallow up Willoughby Elementary School.
That assurance has come from 91原创 School District secretary-treasurer David Green, after suggestions circulated that the town centre proposal would spell the end of the current elementary school, which is situated on the southwest corner of 80 Avenue and 208 Street.
In fact, the Willoughby Township centre proposal for shops, offices and apartments is for several parcels. A sign announcing the coming development has been posted on a parcel on the west side of 208 Street, south of the school.
A few feet away is the Township鈥檚 development proposal sign showing the school lying adjacent to that parcel. Other parcels in the development proposal are to the west and southwest, but not abutting the school site.
Green said the suggestion that Willoughby Elementary will be displaced by the proposed Willoughby Town Centre 鈥渋s not accurate.鈥�
He said: 鈥淭he school district has no plans to dispose of Willoughby Elementary and is not engaged in discussion with any party with respect to its disposal. Willoughby Elementary is an integral component of the district鈥檚 plan to accommodate students on the rapidly developing Willoughby slope.鈥�
He stated that it is not the school district鈥檚 mandate to participate in or determine the outcome of municipal development and rezoning.
鈥淚t is the school district鈥檚 responsibility to work with both local authorities and the Ministry of Education to plan proactively for the future of our communities.鈥�
Green said that the acquisition of potential school sites 鈥渋s a difficult process and one which is subject to the Ministry of Education鈥檚 policies with respect to capital projects, particularly the Five Year Capital Plan process.鈥�
He said that the growth of the student population on the Willoughby slope, and the second phase of all-day Kindergarten in September 鈥渋s placing significant pressure on our school facilities there, which will only be partially alleviated with the opening of Lynn Fripps Elementary in 2012.鈥�
Green added that the district鈥檚 current top priorities are the construction of a middle school on the Willoughby slope, the acquisition of a school site and an expansion of R.E. Mountain Secondary.
Information about the Willoughby Town Centre sign appears on the web site created by parents who oppose a proposed land swap involving the school district and the Township.
The transaction would see the Routley school site at 198A Street and 70 Avenue traded for land in the Yorkson neighbourhood. The deal would give the district another school site in rapidly-growing Yorkson; the Routley site would be developed with 103 townhouses, adjacent to a public park.
Under a photo of the sign, the web site incorrectly states that 鈥淭his is the location of Willoughby Elementary. The school that all 500 of the Routley children are being redirected to.鈥�
The Ministry of Education has endorsed the land swap, while many parents vehemently oppose it.
After a recent public hearing into the rezoning bylaw for the Routley school site, council delayed third reading so that staff can prepare a report that will examine residents鈥� concerns, and explore the possibility that there is room on the 70 Avenue property for both a school and a park.
Monday鈥檚 council meeting was the last before the summer break. Council business will resume on Monday, Sept. 12. Administrator Mark Bakken said on Tuesday that because of pressure on staff due to holidays and 鈥渁 significant and exhaustive workload,鈥� the report on the Routley issue is unlikely before October.
