The Superintendent of School District 27 says they will continue to keep the doors open and listen to what the proposals are following last week’s endorsement by Williams Lake Council for an international high school.
Mark Wintjes says it’s great to see that the City is open for business and is trying to attract people to the area not just from across the country, but the world.
“It’s a matter of how do we grow,” Wintjes said.
“In today’s present state of being a little short on teachers-there are some concerns there, but at the same time an international school could also be another attractant for teachers to Williams Lake.”
Last weeks’ endorsement for the international grade 9 to 12 high school comes one month after the City signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canada Asia Economic and Culture Association.
TRU Spokesperson Darshan Lindsay said TRU’s involvement at this time has been a very brief informal discussion with the Association on educational pathways between a potential future private school operation and how that would link to the Williams Lake TRU campus.
“Nothing is really set in stone,” Wintjes said.
“It’s one of what’s going to work here and what’s some possibilities. Of course, for us it’s always about keeping those doors open; to listen to what some proposals are but still making sure that they’re realistic and that we’ll actually be able to provide services to students.”
“We have to be very cognizant that we certainly don’t want to diminish any services that we have to our existing students that come to our District. International students is an area that does bring in additional funds to the District and we just want to make sure that we use those appropriately.”
School District 27 hosted students from Chengdu, China last winter for 10 days. Wintjes said the District will be hosting students again this winter, but this time for one full month.
Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
