The Langley Board of Education had its first liaison meeting with members of Township council last Wednesday.
Liaison committee members, including board chair Wendy Johnson and Trustee Cecelia Reekie, and the school district’s senior management team met with Township Councillors Charlie Fox and Michelle Sparrow and senior staff to talk about where development is going and what are the needs of the school district.
The dialogue with the Township marked the first of many Township-school district liaison meetings. They were formally put into place this spring to better communicate each other’s issues when it comes to development and school populations.
“Maintaining strong working relationships with the Township and City is extremely important to the board,” said Johnson.
“Trustees and district staff are committed to working closely with our community partners and ensuring the vital ongoing two-way communication takes place as we work together to support the needs of Langley families.”
This year, the board expressed some frustrations that the Township hadn’t communicated its development plans or taken a leadership role in what was a controversial land swap in the Routley area of 198 Street and 70 Avenue. It was property which the Township jointly owned with the district. The school district relinquished its part ownership for a piece of land owned by a developer in Yorkson, where a new middle school will be built.
The board will be talking to the Township and City about the development of its Long Term Facilities Plan. The community consultation meetings for the plan recently concluded, with a public report anticipated in the coming weeks, said Johnson.
There’s still time to submit comments about where people would like to see schools built, which kind and what focus they should have, at facilitiesplanfeedback@sd35.bc.ca