It's been 10 years of Vancouver's kindergarten crunch. Why haven't things improved?

Justin McElroy | Posted: February 2, 2023 2:00 PM | Last Updated: February 2, 2023

School board says it understands the frustration but still no timeline for Olympic Village school

Image | OLYMPIC VILLAGE SCHOOL

Caption: The field in Hinge Park in the Olympic Village has been the proposed site for an elementary school for many years, but to date, no funding has been committed to the project. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Dylan Merrick is like hundreds of parents in Vancouver this month: waiting to hear whether their first child will get into kindergarten at the school of their choice and stressed at the whole situation.

"It's a little bit nerve-wracking," said Merrick, who lives with his wife and son in Fairview, in the type of dense, walkable neighbourhood Vancouver has long prided itself on developing.

"The lack of guarantees to get into your catchment school is a frustration."

Every February, the Vancouver School Board sends messages to every parent who applied for their child to enter kindergarten. And every February, hundreds are told their child is on a waiting list.

Nearly every elementary school in Vancouver's core has a waitlist for kindergarten, and parents are frustrated

Parents then have to decide whether to accept a placement at a school farther away or to sit on the list longer and hope their number comes up.

"You just have to guess and hope," said Merrick.

"And if it doesn't work out for you, then you have to scramble to come up with some sort of way of getting your kid to and from school."

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Issue first raised in 2014

Vancouver's kindergarten conundrum is unique to B.C. for two reasons.

First, it's the only place in the province where so many schools have a wait list year after year.

And second, virtually all those schools are clustered in the same area the densely populated core of the city from Kitsilano to Mt. Pleasant and north to downtown.

The problem has persisted for 10 years, with the Vancouver Sun first reporting on the issue in 2014, a journalist writing that typically "lotteries and lineups are uncommon for neighbourhood kindergartens."

Since then, one new school has opened in the core of the city (Crosstown Elementary), but wait lists haven't gone down because there are more and more young families living in new developments in and around downtown.

Growing pains: Vancouver parents question school board's ability to plan for growth

In the last three years, the wait list number has hovered between 250 and 350 students, falling to 100 to 150 by the summer.

This year's initial wait list won't be known until closer to the end of the month, but it's not expected to significantly change from past iterations.

"We completely acknowledge how stressful it is, particularly if you live in a community where we have increased enrolment, and we have issues with capacity," said Vancouver School Board deputy superintendent David Nelson.

Image | OLYMPIC VILLAGE SCHOOL

Caption: Simon Fraser Elementary has one of the largest kindergarten wait lists because it's the catchment school for the Olympic Village, despite the two being a 25-minute walk apart. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Olympic Village school ... soon?

But acknowledging the problem has been a lot easier than solving it.

Over the last decade, the provincial government has prioritized seismic upgrades of current Vancouver schools over the building of new ones and typically waits until there are enough children in an area before committing funds.

The City of Vancouver has continued to prioritize rezonings for large developments in the area where there's a school shortage (and a shortage of land for extra portables). And the school board has opted against selling assets or changing its overall strategy for catchment areas or enrolment projections.

"The planning involves many levels," admitted Nelson.

"I think it's challenging as a parent, but there is a process that needs to be worked through in terms of demonstrating a business case to the ministry that a new school is needed."

In 2014, the Vancouver Sun reported that the school board "is waiting for funding approval from the provincial government for a new school in the Olympic Village."

Olympic Village elementary school plan inches forward but funding still up in the air

Nine years later, it's still waiting.

The Ministry of Education told CBC News it "has given the VSB approval to develop a Concept Plan, which is currently underway." But so far, no money has been allocated to the province's capital plan, despite a 2020 election promise by the NDP to build a school.

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Nelson expressed confidence the Olympic Village school would become reality and highlighted the new school being constructed at Coal Harbour (with a scheduled opening for the 2024-2025 school year) and the long-term replacement of the Lord Roberts Annex.

"I have confidence that will address a much-needed demand for school space," he said.

Though it will come too late for families like Merrick's.

"If the commute to school is bad, we'll just keep trying to get into a closer school and hope that it works out," he said.

"But yeah, we're planning to have some discomfort."