VSB says lack of provincial funding forced it to make a hard decision
Board said approval granted in order to build new school to keep up with growing enrolment numbers
The Vancouver School Board says its controversial decision to sell a parcel of school property to BC Hydro was necessary in order to fund the construction of two new schools in the West End.
VSB chair Janet Fraser said trustees were forced to make the difficult decision because the provincial government had no intention of building the infrastructure needed to house growing numbers of students.
"We're frustrated. We're angry. We're upset that the Ministry of Education has put us in this position to have to make this decision," said Fraser.
The VSB said it will use the funds from the sale of the underground land to build a new school in Coal Harbour, as well as a brand new facility at Lord Roberts School Annex.
Every year, school boards from around the province have to submit a capital plan that balances current facilities against potential enrolment demands. Fraser said a new school in Coal Harbour has been on the VSB's capital plan for 10 years.
"The Ministry [of Education] has not yet chosen to fund Coal Harbour and they said quite clearly that it's not in their provincial plan for the next 10 years," said Fraser. "So, the trustees felt they were in a very difficult position in not being able to provide the spaces we need for students downtown."
Announcement met with opposition
West End resident Heidi McDonell, the head of the Mole Hill Community Housing Society, has seen the park grow to become the heart of the neighbourhood, something she wants to preserve.
"It's the loss of community. There's about 500 disabled people who live in this area and that park is really their refuge, their oasis where they go to every day, as well as many seniors," said McDonell. "It's destroying a node in the community."
The VSB announced Tuesday that the new Coal Harbour elementary school will be ready in 2023, at which point the students from Lord Roberts will transfer to the new facility. It will then take another five years of construction for the Lord Roberts replacement and substation to be built.
The project's proposed timeline is something former NDP candidate and West End resident Morgane Oger is concerned about.
"I believe we are talking about construction cycles that will take 15 years," said Oger.
Oger also said the board's decision to pay for new schools abdicates the Ministry of Education of its responsibility to fund new facilities.
"I feel sorry for the trustees that they feel they have no other choice, but if you are in a hurry to have something done, you don't sell a kidney," said Oger.
With files from Yvette Brend