Vancouver school's future uncertain again as board proposes francophone switch

For the third time in a decade, parents with children who attend a Vancouver elementary schoolare once again uncertain whether its doors will stay open.

The Vancouver School Board (VSB) is proposing to closeQueen Elizabeth Annex, a French immersion school on the city's West Side, and turn it over to the francophone school district.

The small school, which has 68 students between kindergarten and Grade 3,is no stranger to uncertainty over its future.

In 2008,the VSBconsidered raising money by selling the property, and in 2016it narrowly avoided closure when the province relaxed funding requirements for seismic upgrading.

This time, the board is considering closing the school on July 1, 2020, and handingit to the Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la Columbie-Britannique (CSF) in order to appease a 2016 B.C. Supreme Court orderthat found French speakers donot have access to adequate facilities in four communities, including the West Side of Vancouver.

The Charter of Rightsprovides that Canadian citizens whose first language is French or English be allowed primary and secondary education in that language, even if they're in the minority.

Francophone schools are separate from French immersion programs, where instruction is offered in French for second language learners.

"We absolutely support the francophone community [but] we also have questions around, is it wise to take out French immersion and pit the francophone community against the French immersion community?" said Rebecca Pitfield, co-chair of the parent advisory council at Queen Elizabeth Annex.

'It doesn't seem feasible'

According to VSB's proposal,if theschool closes, students will be transferredto L'coleJules Quesnel(LJQ), located approximately a kilometre away.

Queen Elizabeth is the annex of LJQ, where students continue their French immersion program for grades 4-7.

"On paper it looks great. In reality, it doesn't seem feasible," Pitfieldtold Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.

She LJQ will be overcapacity if it absorbs more students. Pitfield said LJQ is built to accommodate 410 kids and already has a projected 380 students this school year.

"The classrooms that we could perceive they might put us are totally inappropriate for a child to learn, so we're going to have some issues ahead of us finding out how they propose to do this," she said.

In a statement, VSB said the French immersion program can be accommodated on one site. It said the earliesta decision about Queen Elizabeth Annex's future would be made is Jan. 27, 2020.

The VSB will discuss the proposal duringa regularly scheduled meeting on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

To hear the complete interview with Rebecca Pitfield, click on the audio link below: