Area standards and why they matter

Our district is unique because New Westminster’s population density means 11 out of 12 of our school sites operate below provincial site area standards for schools of that population. We supplement our smaller school sites by placing them next to city parks to give children added play space. Unfortunately, this limits what the District can do if we want to build major school expansions or bring in additional portables to increase capacity.

 

This table lists every school within the New Westminster Schools system and shows only one of the district's schools is situated at a location with surplus land area. The other schools - combined - suffer from a land shortfall of a little over 31 acres.
New Westminster schools occupy much smaller sites than what the province recommends due to a combination of the city’s population density and the lack of available land.

 

Without building new schools by acquiring more land or air space parcels within existing developments, our district will be ill-equipped to accommodate rising student enrollment.

 

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