& — Friday, October 25, 1991 — North Shore News

School expansion in doubt for next September classes

Dorothy Lynas elementary school

parents lobby board for action

PARENTS OF students attending overfull Dorothy Lynas elementary school were told Tuesday that completion of a desired four-room addition to the school was highly un-

likely for next September.

“From a realistic point of view, I would say that September 1992 is not in the cards,”’ said Pat Bell, North Vancouver School District 44 (NVSD) assistant superintend- ent.

By Anna “arie D’Angelo Contributing Writer

Bell was responding to a ques- tion from trustee Richard Walton during Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

Walton wanted to know how long it would take before the ad- dition was ready for students if **all the lights were green."

Dorothy Lynas school opened in the Indian River area last September and it immediately fill- ed to capacity.

This year, five portable classrooms were weeded to ac- commodate more than 500 stu- dents ir the school that was designed to handle 400 pupils.

“‘Our concern is that the prob- Iem of overcrowding at Dorothy Lynas is only going to get worse,”” said Greg Staple, spokesman for the Dorothy Lynas School Association parent group.

Staple estimated that at least three more portables would he needed at the school next September if the addition was not built.

He also expressed concerns that construction currently under way in east Seymour, which includes 245 townhouses and 19 single- family houses, would increase the crowding problem. .

He said 1,000 housing viits planned “further down the read’’ -for the Northlands area would also crowd schools in east Seymour.

“*We have just spoken to North Vancouver District Council and

. told them we think there is a need ©

A NORTH VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD

to review development plans in east Seymour and integrate those plans with school needs,"’ said Staple.

NVSD placed the four-room addition as a high priority in its 1992-93 capital budget request. The ministry of education is ex- pected to review the request dy January.

if the addition is approved, design preparation, the tendering process and construction would likely result in the addition being teady for the 1993 school year.

Superintendent Robin Brayne said iast year NVSD's high priorities included replacing eight portables at Larson school and six portables at Ross Road school with permanent classrooms.

The provincial education ministry reviewed the request and shifted the portables’ replacement to medium priority. The portables are still at Larson and Ross Road schools.

“When the ministry assigned the projects as medium priority, it was like the kiss of death,”’ said Brayne.

Some good news for the Dorothy Lynas parents group came from trustee Don Bell, who said planning for the Northlands development did include an elementary schcol.

Trustee Beil said in the past, school boards were frustrated by the way proposed school additions were treated by the education ministry.

“You could not plan till you showed the need. That meant you practically had to have the stu- dents standing in the school field before you could show need,” said trustee Bell.

For more information about the federal government’s proposals for constitutional reform, call toll-free:

I-S00-561-1188

Deaf or hearing impaired call: 1-800-567-1992 «rry/Top)

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