Nanaimo trustees want to formalize the relationship the school board has with city council.
A motion directing staff to develop a protocol agreement between the school board and the City of Nanaimo to guide the relationship between the parties on matters of mutual interest was passed at Wednesday's board meeting.
"It provides a formal structure, commitment – we'll commit to a certain number of meetings per year," said Jamie Brennan, school board chairman. "It really makes sense for us to meet on a regular basis. We have a lot of potential for working together to jointly develop land."
He said the idea stemmed from a recent meeting between the school board and city council.
There have been two meetings between all board and council members since the district eliminated all of its sub-committees last fall, including the city-district joint use committee, in favour of having all trustees present at two standing committees, said Brennan.
He said there are several properties the district and city jointly own and the two parties have agreements in place for other properties, such as a Dickenson Road property the district leases to the city for a dog off-leash park.
Ongoing discussions include partnering with the city and others to make the Rotary Bowl a multi-use facility, Brennan added.
The agreement would also highlight the importance of the relationship between the city and district, he said.
Coun. George Anderson said council was awaiting a decision by trustees and a similar resolution must now be adopted by council for the matter to go any further.
"There hasn't really been any details," he said.