Happy New Year everyone,

Our battle for the students of Vic High continues. Read our letter to the GVSD SD61 trustees emailed January 5, 2021. 

We are keeping up the pressure with no intentions to stop until we get equitable treatment for the students of Victoria High School. 

We need your help. Share the link to the petition with your friends, and please email/mail City Hall, the GVSD, and the BC Minister of Education noting your objection to the taking of land needed for Vic High educational needs and the promised metric track and multi-purpose sports field.

Thank you for your continued support.

Stephen Dorsey, Co-founder, Friends of Vic High

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January 5, 2021
Greater Victoria School Board District 61, Victoria BC

Re: Objection to Caledonia Covenant, Right-of-Way, Land Exchange, Property Acquisition & Lease Bylaw 2021

Dear Trustees,

My name is Esther Callo. I had planned to address you today on behalf of Friends of Vic High (FOVH), a grassroots organization of which I am co-founder. With your board meeting cancelled, we believe it is important and timely to share this letter noting our objection to your tabled motion.

We advocate for the rights of current and future students of Victoria High School (Vic High). We advocate to protect land on school grounds that is long-promised for use for the revitalization of the Memorial Stadium’s track and field facilities. This original infrastructure was built more than 70 years ago to honour those students and teachers who served and died in the Second World War.

Through a review of vast amounts of public information and recently disclosed School District 61 (SD61) documents, we continue to assert, supported by facts, that SD61 is improperly disposing of School District land. We dispute SD61's assertion that a $2.6M shortfall associated with Vic High's seismic upgrade necessitates a proposed lease of over 2 acres of Vic High land for 60 years. In fact, the November 4, 2020 S.J. Burnside Upgrade Review clearly details that the shortfall was of SD61's own making due to the mismanagement of the S.J. Burnside Education Centre upgrade.

These and other facts are in the public record. We are privileged to have had the advice of the late Joseph Arvay, and the support of additional legal advisers to guide our efforts in this matter. We will not stop until all the facts are brought to light, the interests of Vic High students are heard, and we have ensured SD61 has acted openly and fairly.

With this letter, we are objecting to the passing of the Caledonia Covenant, Right-of-Way, Land Exchange, Property Acquisition & Lease Bylaw 2021. Our objection is based upon the lack of SD61 authority to dispose of lands unless they are surplus to an educational purpose, SD61’s mischaracterizing of a financial shortfall to justify this exchange, and the use of the board’s past failures, including the mismanagement of the S.J. Burnside Education Centre upgrade project, to rationalize present-day injustices.

Our team has reviewed SD61’s recently disclosed legal opinion included in the January 5, 2021, Board agenda which has bolstered our objection in this matter, and clearly details that SD61 has not met the threshold to dispose of the lands in question. Specifically, the motion raises the following issues:

1. Disposition of Land without the Requisite Authority - No Evidence the Land is not Required “For Future Educational Purposes”

●  We understand that for any disposition of land – including both the granting of an easement and a

lease over 10 years – it must first be proven that the land is not required “for future educational

purposes”.
●  Without that confirmation, the disposition is outside the board’s authority, and we assert such in

this case.
●  Onus is on the board to prove this basis. You have yet to do so.
●  There is no evidentiary basis to support the lack of need for the identified parcels of land “for
future educational purposes”.
The FOVH has asked for documents related to the assessment of
these lands in terms of Vic High's current or future educational needs. To date, SD61 has yet to
provide such documentation.
2. Budget Shortfall Mischaracterization: Consent Sought Based Upon Erroneous Information
During the consultation process, the public and various stakeholders were told that there was a funding shortfall in the Vic High budget which necessitated this disposition. Based on your own documents released in December 2020, it is evident that there is no such shortfall. Consent sought and gained based upon erroneous information is not actual consent.

According to the November 4, 2020 report, there is a shortfall for upgrades to the S.J. Burnside Education Centre. To date, the board has failed to provide its full budget. The shortfall may be deeper than suspected. Again, we demand that the full budget be released for public review.

The following is from the Ministry of Education policy on land dispositions:

●  With respect to surplus or under-utilized school space, the board must consult with local government, community organizations and the public on alternative community uses. This consultation process must include:

○  Consideration of future enrollment growth in the district, including Kindergarten to Grade 12, adult programs, and early learning;
○  Consideration of alternative community use of surplus space in school buildings and other facilities; and
○  A fair consideration of the community’s input and adequate opportunity for the community to respond to the board’s plans for the school.
●  Only in exceptional circumstances should a board consider permanently disposing of school property.

These are not exceptional circumstances. There has been no suggestion this is an exceptional circumstance and there is no evidence that it is.

In conclusion, the attempts by SD61, in coordination with other parties, to take land away from Vic High students current and future is grossly unfair — especially in an era where addressing systemic issues of equality and equity is becoming paramount to directing how our institutions make important decisions on behalf of citizens.

A two-lane walking track with a sports field not suitable for the British Columbia provincial sports of track and field, rugby and soccer (beach volleyball is not a provincial school sport) as proposed, are useless for educational purposes. They are not standard to what is commonly needed for schools in BC or anywhere in Canada. As such, these proposed facilities fail to meet the educational standards expected at a high school serving 1000 students.

In media releases, SD61 has described some of Vic High’s grounds as “unused”. That suggestion is offensive. The School District allowed the land to fall into disrepair and allowed the track to succumb to a derelict state. It was also SD61 that tore down the Fairey Technical-Vocational Unit with the promise of making the land safe and accessible for Vic High but instead, chose to maintain an unusable empty lot over the last decade, littered with the rubble from the demolition.

We urge trustees to do the right thing for the students of Vic High, and to vote against this motion. Thank you,

Esther Callo, Co-founder, Friends of Vic High (FOVH) Victoria, BC.

C.C. Victoria City Council, CRHC, BC Ministry of Education, Vic High Alumni Association