At a Special Meeting on October 9, 2012, the Board of Education approved the District Long Term Facilities Plan which represented the beginning of an ongoing dialogue with our school communities. The plan contains sixteen recommendations (see summary below) and was used to inform the District’s Five Year Capital Plan 2012-2013 which was approved at the October 23, 2012 Regular Meeting of the Board. The complete plan and appendices are available for download below.

SD35 Langley Long Term Facilities Plan Report Main Document

Appendix A – School Facilities

Appendix B – CP3 Summary Enrolment Projections

Appendix C – Headcount Enrolment Projections by School, by Grade, and by Program

District Five Year Capital Plan

The following is a summary of recommendations in the Long Term Facilities Plan.
It is recommended that School District No. 35 (Langley):

1. Engages the appropriate stakeholders in processes to determine the preferred long term enrolment, grade configuration, and site locations of District, Alternate, and Career programs, and that the outcome of the reviews be incorporated into future capital planning.

2. Commences a stakeholder consultation process to discuss middle grades education with a potential follow-up process on middle grades configuration for the Brookswood, D.W. Poppy, and Walnut Grove areas.

3. Initiates a process to explore possibilities on the use of underutilized classroom space at Aldergrove Community Secondary School.

4. Engages the Langley Secondary community and other stakeholders in a process to develop a Strategic Plan to determine the preferred long term educational programs, enrolment, and site location.

5. Explores potential School / Community Services relationships / partnerships in schools that have surplus space as well as in planned new schools.

6. Develops a Strategic Plan to determine the preferred long term location for Glenwood School based upon the Brookswood / Fernridge Community Plan update.

7. Considers the number and location of schools required for the Brookswood Secondary area based upon the Brookswood / Fernridge Community Plan update.

8. Plans for schools in the Willoughby area based upon evolving development trends and their location.

9. Plans to relocate Willoughby Elementary School to a more appropriate site to accommodate proposed development in the area and develop an expression of interest for redevelopment of the existing site.

10. Plans to build an elementary school on the James Anderson Learning Centre site in the Five Year Capital Plan and plan to relocate the James Anderson Learning Centre to a different location.

11. Plans for an addition to R.C. Garnett Elementary in the Five Year Capital Plan.

12. Plans for a new secondary school in the Willoughby Area in the Five Year Capital Plan and with the intent to convert the existing R.E. Mountain Secondary School to a middle school upon completion and occupancy of the new secondary school.

13. Plans for four (three elementary and one secondary) new school sites in the Five Year Capital Plan.

14. Undertakes further investigation in consideration of Ministry of Education Mechanical System Upgrade Program applications for some schools.

15. Determines if the old Bradshaw, County Line and Murrayville schools, and the undeveloped Route 32 school site, are required for educational programs and / or services and, if not, dispose of the facilities and sites.

16. Uses the Long Term Facilities Plan as a strategic framework and support document for the Five Year Capital Plan, as per Ministry of Education capital planning requirements, with consideration for regular updates as required.
Vision Statement

As an integrated component of the Board of Education’s strategic planning process, the Long Term Facilities Plan will enhance student learning by supporting educational programming initiatives and addressing changing demographics within an equitable and financially sustainable framework.
Long-Term Facilities Guiding Principles
Board Strategic Planning Principles and Priorities:
Enable implementation of the Board’s goals and priorities in the Long Term Facilities Plan.

Educational Program:
Enhance student learning by creating and / or supporting viable and effective programs in appropriate locations.

Enrolment – Capacity – Utilization:
Maintain appropriate sized facilities that will accommodate changing enrolment and educational programs over the next 10 to 15 years.

Facility Costs:
Strive for increased efficiency in operational and capital costs.

Administrative Costs:
Optimize administrative costs within the available funding

What are the funding or financial implications of the ‘possibilities’? What are the details of each option?

The Secretary Treasurer’s report (PDF) may be found here. The report includes information on seismic upgrades (earthquake damage resistance), renovation, expansion, land acquisition, etc. Also, background information and detailed discussion on the options considered is available.

What are the transportation implications of the ‘possibilities’?

General information on existing District transportation can be found here. Depending on the Board of Education decision, more detail on transportation would be explored and made available.

Why are we considering middle schools? Will the District be moving toward more middle schools?

Information on Middle Schools may be found in the SD35 Langley Long Term Facilities Plan Report Main Document. A recommendation found on page 44 of the document reads:

It is recommended that School District No. 35 (Langley):
Commences a stakeholder consultation process to discuss middle grades education with a potential follow-up process on middle grades configuration for the Brookswood, D.W. Poppy, and Walnut Grove areas.

What is cohort size and the implications of cohort size – advantages to a big school vs a little school?

Cohort size refers to the number of students in each grade at a school. A larger school may have  250 kids to 400 Grade 9 students versus 100 to 200 students. When a cohort is larger, there are far more opportunities available to kids in that more varied course offerings are made available as well as more scheduling options within those choices. For example, a school with a small grade cohort may have 2 math offerings while a larger school may be able to offer 6 math options. With 2 math offerings, a student may have to drop an elective to fit a required math course due to a scheduling conflict. When there are 6 math offerings, a student has more timetable slots available to take math and electives at different times. A school with a larger population and cohort size there is an opportunity have have more varied course content offerings. A minimum class size can be reached for a ‘more obscure’ class like ceramics, for example. At a smaller school with a small cohort, our example may not meed a minimum class size to allow the class to go ahead. With a larger cohort, a class can reach that minimum and therefore the class can go ahead. The opportunities for students can be more varied, allowing children to try new things and draw the into positive activities.

Why is ‘community’ and school culture so important? Why does it come up so often?

Last year the District undertook a visioning process where parents, community members and staff were invited to provide input on a new District mission statement, purpose and vision. Also arising from that process were our four core values of integrity, excellence, courage and community. These core values were recurring themes and keywords that kept rising to the surface as people shared what it was about Langley Schools that was to be valued, cared for and nurtured moving forward. Please visit our visioning diagram here to see a complete picture of what it is that makes Langley Schools great now and how we are improving, growing and moving into the future.

At the Special Meeting of the Board of Education, the community consultation regarding the Willoughby and Langley Secondary communities was concluded. Just under 100 people attended the meeting and seven delegations addressed the Board prior to any debate and voting. A motion to permanently close Langley Secondary School was opposed by the Board. A second motion was passed to direct staff to submit a business case to the Ministry of Education related to ‘Option 4’, the ‘right-sizing’ or rebuilding of portions of the current LSS. The Board has also directed staff to to indicate to the Ministry of Education that the preferred option on the Willoughby slope is for a new secondary school as a part of the business case.

“There is no guarantee that they will approve or move forward with the recommendation that we give them”, said Board Chair Rob McFarlane in reference to the Ministry of Education, and “..it may be process that takes time”, said Secretary Treasurer David Green earlier in the meeting.

Staff Presentation to the Board of Education.

Letter to Parents – LSS Community Consultation – Board Decision 2015Feb18.

Information on the LSS Notice of Closure Consultation.

Architectural Renderings – LSS Family of Schools 2015Feb6

The partial reconstruction of Langley Secondary School estimated to cost $18.75 million will now be one of the options being considered by the Board of Education on February 17, 2015.

Report on Closure of Langley Secondary_2015February_02

Community Consultation Update Presentation January 19, 2015

Report to the Board of Education: Long Term Facilities Plan – December 16, 2014

Langley School District is currently reviewing options for the implementation of the Long Term Facilities Plan recommendations and, in conjunction with DPAC, will hold an information session on Wednesday, January 14, 2015.  This informal opportunity will provide community members with information and be an opportunity to ask questions.  Information will be provided through one on one, small group conversations and is the same as that provided at previous community consultation meetings.  The meeting on January 14th will be held at the School Board Office, 4875 222nd Street.

A Notice of Motion to consider the potential closure of Langley Secondary School (LSS) has been served by the Board of Education in order to initiate the closure consultation process as outlined in Board Policy No. 5029. The potential closure of Langley Secondary School is included in a number of possible scenarios currently being discussed in the District’s consultation process around developing a Business Case for the Ministry of Education related to the Langley Secondary and RE Mountain communities facility needs.  With this notice, the Board will begin a specific public consultation process related to LSS so that should a recommendation arise in which closure of the school becomes part of the implementation of the Long Term Facilities plan, the District will have followed the procedures in its Policy. The notice of motion does not mean the school will be closed, merely that the possible closure will be considered at a future open Regular Meeting of the Board of Education.

Superintendent Suzanne Hoffman provided the Board an update on the community consultation process for the Long Term Facilities Plan at the December 16th regular meeting of the Board of Education. At the end of the presentation the Board was asked for feedback and further direction for staff. The Board has asked staff to explore some of the new options raised in the course of the public consultation and provide recommendations on those options.

Long Term Facilities Plan Update Report

Langley School District is reviewing options for the implementation of the Long Term Facilities Plan that affect the Langley Secondary and R.E. Mountain catchment communities and are therefore holding information sessions.

For the LSS family of schools:
Tuesday, December 2 at H.D. Stafford Middle School and start at 3:30 & 6:30

For the REMSS family of schools:
Wednesday, December 3 at R.E. Mountain Secondary School and start at 3:30 & 6:30

The purpose of the information session is to provide the community with an overview of the Long Term Facilities Plan recommendations and the implications of possible scenarios upon implementation.

To provide written input on the Long Term Facilities Plan and its implementation please address correspondence to:

Office of the Secretary Treasurer
Langley School District
4875 222 Street,
Langley, BC  V3A 3Z7

or email feedback@sd35.bc.ca

REMSS Long Term Facilities Plan Consultation Meeting for the REMSS Family of Schools: December 3, 2014 PowerPoint Presentation

Long Term Facilities Plan Community Consultation

About 60 representatives from DPAC and the most-impacted communities assembled for a small group consultation meeting on November 24th. The process stems from an October 2nd meeting with school PAC members that suggested a small group meeting precede a larger group meeting in order to provide feedback. Feedback is to be incorporated from the November 24th meeting into the presentations on December 2nd and 3rd in the affected communities. After the large group meeting, the information will be distilled back to the smaller group to help formulate a recommendation that can be presented to the Board of Education.

Examples of valuable input so far in preparing for the larger group meeting include:

• More information needs to be made available on financial impacts.
• More information needs to be made available on transportation options and impacts.
• Reduce the use of ‘lingo’ and abbreviations in order to make the information more accessible and clear.
• What is the timeline for completion of the options provided?
• Connect the options so that the effect of one option on another option is clearly indicated.
• Address what will happen in the short term once an option has been decided upon?

Feedback from this meeting and from the greater District community is continuing to arrive – send us your input via email at feedback@sd35.bc.ca

LTFP Planning for Community Consultations PowerPoint Presentation