Langley School Board isn't waiting until its regular monthly meeting on Feb. 21 to deal with the Routley land-swap issue.

It will meet on Feb. 7.

On Wednesday, the district announced the meeting a 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the board office in Murrayville.

The only topic on the agenda is Routley, where residents feel they have lost a school site.

The meeting comes a day after the Township discusses the issue.

Mayor Jack Froese said he will ask for a reconsideration of the matter on Feb. 6, to help move the issue along.

The vote on the third reading of rezoning bylaws for the site was originally scheduled for Jan. 23. Council voted to defer the vote to Feb. 13 to allow the school board to make up its mind about the future of the site.

The school board, in turn, deferred its decision, pending a meeting between the school district and Township.

Now the matter will be heard by the Township council next Monday, the next scheduled regular council meeting. The evening meeting begins at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the Township Civic Facility.

Parents in Routley insist that a school is needed for the many children in their newly developed community. The school district, however, had planned to swap the land between itself, the Township, and a developer for another lot to the northeast, across 200th Street.

The current proposal is for 101 townhouse units. The Township has also created a design for the remaining land that would include a park, and a 1.2 hectare (three acre) open space that could accommodate a 250 to 350 student elementary school in the future.

However, the Township has no power to either build a school or compel the district to do so. If the district wants to build a new school there, it needs approval and funding from the provincial government.