School properties are a big election issue in two areas in the Lower Mainland.

On the North Shore, it’s about the sale of lands for housing development. In New Westminster, it’s a question of when the city is getting a new high school.

Because of falling enrollment, several schools were closed in both the city and district of North Vancouver. Eleven sites were deemed surplus.

Five were leased to various users. One will be closed, eventually. Another was sold to the District of North Vancouver for road improvement. Two were purchased by developers for future housing projects.

Two others have been identified for potential housing development. These are the former Cloverley elementary school and the Lucas Centre/Leo Marshall Curriculum Centre, which used to be a secondary school.

Susan Skinner is running for a fourth term as North Vancouver education trustee with a vow to preserve school sites for public use.

“The community has been pretty up in arms and concerned about the fact that these lands are potentially up for redevelopment for market housing,” Skinner told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

Last summer, a report prepared for the North Vancouver school district by a team of consultants laid out options for the Cloverley and Lucas Centre/Leo Marshall sites, which are both located in the city of North Vancouver.

One option for Cloverley is 165 condo units and townhouses. Option number two is 115 condo units in four-storey apartment buildings.

For the Lucas Centre/Leo Marshall site, the first option is 290 condos and townhouses. The other is 180 condo units and townhouses.

Skinner counts herself and trustee Barry Forward, who is seeking a third term, as the only members of the current district school board who want to retain surplus school sites for community and future educational use.

Skinner also wants to see newcomer Megan Higgins win a seat on the board. Higgins, a lawyer and mother of three, believes these properties will see students again in the future.

“The city of North Vancouver is the area of potential population growth,” Higgins told the Straight in a phone interview.

In New Westminster, discussions about replacing the city’s only high school have been going on for years.

During a November 4 debate on Shaw TV mayoral candidate James Crosty said that they’ve been as long as the 25 years he has lived in the city. He slammed incumbent mayor Wayne Wright and councillor Jonathan Cote, who is also running for mayor, for the delay.

“It’s derelict. They say there’s rats running through it. The roof’s leaking,” Crosty said about the old high school. “These are unacceptable things.”

Wright said that it’s the provincial
government that has the authority to build schools. Cote said the city has done everything it can, including land swaps with the school board.

Long-time school trustee James Janzen said a new secondary school is the number one issue voters bring up when he goes door-knocking in New Westminster.

According to Janzen, the province considers the future replacement school as an “approved project”, which means that it recognizes the need for one. The next step is for the school board to negotiate a project agreement with the province, which includes such things as size and cost.

“It’s probably safe to say that the number we’re working with now, and it’s not an exact number, is probably around $110 million,” Janzen told the Straight by phone about how much it may take to build a new high school.

He said that in addition to cost and other issues that delayed the project, the situation is also complicated by the fact that the Massey Theatre, which is owned by the school district, is located on the site. “Depending on the way the project goes, it might be torn [down],” he said about the arts venue.

Janzen laughed when asked if there’s a time line for construction. He related that he thought in the past his daughter might be able to attend a new secondary school or at least go through Grade 12 there. The years came and went without a new school, he said—and she is now 25.