Vancouver school closure process halted
Posted October 3, 2016 9:58 pm.
Last Updated October 3, 2016 10:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A little over a week before a broader consultation was to begin, the Vancouver School Board has voted to suspend the school closure process.
The recommendation came from Acting Superintendent Steve Cardwell at a contentious VSB meeting Monday evening and passed by Vision Vancouver trustees and the lone Green Party of Vancouver trustee Janet Fraser.
The removal of the 95 per cent enrollment requirements from the province and medical leave by four senior staff were factors in the decision.
“The closure process was working on very tight timelines and the minister’s announcement about the removal of the 95 per cent requirement came too late to allow detailed consideration of the implications prior to the September 26 board meeting to move schools forward for public consultation. A new staff report may not be ready before decisions have to be made in December,” VSB chairperson Mike Lombardi said in a statement online.
“The decision of the Board means that in accordance with the VSB school closure policy, none of the 11 schools identified for consideration of closure will be closed by June 30, 2017.”
It is unclear when the process could resume and what will happen to the upcoming consultation process that included three town hall meetings and separate consultations with each school listed for potential closure.
The following is a list of schools that were being considered for closure:
Queen Elizabeth Annex
Champlain Heights Annex
Tecumseh Annex
McBride Annex
Dr. A. R. Lord Elementary
Admiral Seymour Elementary
Graham D. Bruce Elementary
Sir Guy Carleton Elementary
Queen Alexandra Elementary
Pierre Elliot Trudeau Elementary
Gladstone Secondary
