The Richmond Board of Education asked for a meeting with the city about getting land for a school in city centre.
Instead, they received a letter from Mayor Malcolm Brodie saying staff are "in discussions" but more progress is needed "before any meeting suggested would be productive," prompting Trustee David Yang to call the response "off-side."
A new school in city centre has been an issue since 2007, Trustee Donna Sargent said at last week's board meeting.
The school district has estimated it will cost $70 million just to buy land for a school, money the school district doesn't have.
Schools in city centre, such as Brighouse elementary, are beyond their capacity and have had several "modular" classrooms installed on-site to accommodate extra classes.
“We’ve been advocating for so long that there will be children coming to city centre and nowhere to go to school,” said Sargent.
“We don’t have enough space from other schools to even bus kids. Why are the children in city centre not as important as all over the city?”
“We’re asking for … land to put a school on, we’re not asking for money,” she added.
Both Sargent and Yang said modular classrooms are a short-term solution, but it can only work for so long.
In response to the letter from the board of education to city council asking for a meeting, Brodie said a meeting was held between city and school district staff on Nov. 28 to discuss land acquisitions and exchanges.
The letter added there will be a city review and update of the Official Community Plan in early 2024, which will “be affected by the recent legislation passed by the provincial government on housing.”
“As staff are actively engaged in discussions, the process needs to progress further before any meeting suggested would be productive,” reads the letter.
Yang described the mayor’s letter as “off-side” at Wednesday’s board meeting in comparison to the “positive tone” from their last meeting.
“With respect to behind-the-scenes work between city and district staff, whom I have great respect for, that work has to be (done) in conjunction with high-level decision makers with board of education and city council,” said Yang.
“Both represent the public for making decisions, and the public needs to know we are willing to continue these conversations in good faith, but we need to recognize this effort is a two-way street.”
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