What could happen to Vancouver school buildings if they close?

The Vancouver School Board may have suspended its decision to close any schools this week, but the narrative around what will happen to the facilities is far from over.

Declining enrolment over the last few years has potentially put 11 schools in Vancouver on the chopping block, and three annexes are expected to close by December.

The school board is currently facing a budget shortfall. 

According to a VSB staff report, by closing or re-purposing a school, the board would save on average $249,000 in annual operating costs for an annex, $567,000 for an elementary main school and $1,949,000 for a secondary school.

But what would happen to all that valuable land if the schools were to shut their doors?

Nope, not condos

If you're thinking the VSB will turn its former schools into condos as soon as it can, think again. 

"We've taken a position of a board by majority vote that we will not sell school land," said VSB chair Mike Lombardi, referring to the board's land disposal policy.

That policy doesn't include land swaps or selling part of a former school site.

Lombardi says the main driver behind the board's position is the possibility that more schools are needed in the future, keeping real estate prices in mind.

"We'll never be able to buy property in Vancouver again, so it's a very prudent way of making sure that we'll always have school land," he said.

"We anticipate that our buildings will be required. We have 25,000 people coming to Vancouver every year."

A different approach

That's a different position from the North Vancouver School Board — although the board's chair, Christie Sacré, emphasized that each school district has different considerations.  

When the NVSB was facing the same issue as the VSB several years ago, it sold two of its properties to pay off its debt to the province and to put towards upgrading another school.

Sacré said one of the properties was sold to the city to become an interchange.

The other one was turned into single family homes after residents from the surrounding community indicated they wanted to see it developed because it had been sitting empty for so long.

She emphasized that the board works closely with the municipalities it serves to determine which neighbourhoods are slated for increased density; that way it can make sure school land in that area remains available.

And a reminder: all schools in the province need approval from the province to sell property. And if if it is sold, the property would likely have to go through the city's rezoning process.

Setting priorities

The VSB says its first priority for empty properties will be to shuffle students from the dozens of schools slated for seismic upgrading.

If the empty schools aren't used to temporarily house students, the board will then open them up to "compatible" organizations like daycares, educational centres or community groups.

And Lombardi said any of those leases would include a 90-day termination clause in case the VSB decides it wants to reopen the school.

The city can lease their properties for up to 10 years. Any more than that would require special permission from the province.

No private use

Lombardi says VSB policy precludes it from leasing its land out to private companies — and that includes private schools.

"We want to preserve our space for public use," he said. "We believe we're here to represent the public school system."

Again, that's a position that differs from the North Vancouver School Board. It leases the former Plymouth Elementary School to the Lions Gate Christian Academy — a relationship she said has been fruitful.

The school caters to a "specialty crowd" that comes from a broad catchment area that includes residents from other districts.

"Even though I agree that renting to private schools isn't the ideal, I also believe that if it's the difference between cutting programs and keeping a school open, I'll make sure the children in our schools now are getting the supports and the programs [they need]," she said.

Lots of interest

Lombardi said it's "very likely" the VSB's closed schools could be leased — despite the fact that many of the buildings need seismic upgrading that could cost the renter millions of dollars.

"We do lease buildings all the time and the people who lease them, they know the condition," he said. "It's up to them to decide if they want to lease them or not."

Lombardi said the VSB has a list of 50 groups that have expressed interest in leasing property, and the board often gets unsolicited proposals.

The interested parties have been child-care operators, Lombardi said, adding that the VSB already has many leases on parts of its properties for daycare centres.

He said another interested party is the French School Board, which has long argued for more space.