Cohabitation could be a solution for EMSB, education minister says

An arrangement in which the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) shares some of its spaces with itsovercrowded French counterpart would be an acceptable way for it to avoid losing some of its schools altogether,Quebec's education minister said Saturday.

Jean-Franois Roberge, in Montreal for theCoalition Avenir Qubec's general council meeting, told journalists that he's open to cohabitation in which one or more EMSBschools would accommodate students from both boards.

"We are really open minded and we hope maybe some cohabitation,francophones with anglophones, could be a short term solution," Roberge said. "Short term, for me, this is an acceptable solution."

But he said that the EMSBand the French-language Commission scolaire de Pointe-de-l'le(CSPI) needto agree on the details by June 10 the deadline he established previously or else he will follow through on his plan totransfer three EMSBschools to the CSPI.

"I'm not allowed to impose cohabitation," Roberge said, citing provincial laws."I can only impose transfers. If cohabitation between the school boards isn't signed and agreed, I will make the transfer."

The three EMSBschools Roberge has identified are General Vanier and Gerald McShane elementary schools andJohn Paul I Junior High.

Roberge saidthatthe EMSBshould listen to its parents, who want a solution that doesn't mean a loss of schools, and who in recent days have contacted his offices directly.

"[The parents]are saying thatthey understand that we need to take action if the school boards don't come to an agreement," Roberge said."They hope that the school boards will come to an agreement and they want to collaborate with us. They're searching for a solution."

The EMSBcouncil voted unanimously on Wednesdayto officially look into thepossibility of cohabitationwith the French board.

On Saturday EMSB chair Angela Mancini said a formal letter requesting a conversation will be sent to the CSPIby Monday.

If the two boards can agree to an arrangement, Mancini said making it the EMSB's official proposal to Quebec should be "a formality," in spite of the rancorousdisputes on the subjectthat have dominated the board's meetings in recent months.

Parents have recently endorsed the cohabitation idea at generalassemblies, Mancini said, which will reassurethe commissioners.

"We had originally had word from the governing boards at these schools" supporting cohabitation, Mancini said, but the recent support has come from the broader community of parents.

"If parents are willing to go forward with cohabitation, I don't see council having a problem," she said.

On Tuesday, EMSB members voted to approve aplan tomove the Galileo Adult Education Centre in Montreal North to give space tothe CSPI, even though Roberge had previously dismissed that plan as inadequate..

At this point, the Galileo move will still happen, and it could become part of a proposal that also includes cohabitation, Mancini said. But if Galileo isn't part of the future CSPI arrangement, however it turns out, Mancini said the EMSB council coulddecide to rescind the plan to move it.