Stop all school closures until a transparent long term plan can show which school sites we need for the 30-year future and beyond.

In October 2021, Vancouver Parent Advisory Committees voted 94% in favour of a motion to stop all school closure considerations until the Vancouver School Board (VSB) updates their long term facilities plan with transparent enrolment projections that include where kids live now (via Canada Census 2021) and where kids will live (via upcoming plans of the City of Vancouver, UBC, UEL, Musqueam and Squamish nations). 

What was VSB’s response? Just 3 months later, VSB is recommending closing Queen Elizabeth Annex -- a school on Vancouver’s West Side, where much of the city’s development is happening over the next 20 years. VSB is basing this recommendation on a school utilization plan that only looks 7 years into the future. 

School closures are forever. 

Selling school land is forever.

VSB needs to do its due diligence before closing schools, and show its long term strategy for land assets.

Sign this petition if you think VSB should show which school sites it needs based on current and future planning data.

 

In 2010 VSB made a similar move: they recommended the closure of 12 schools, based on a 10-year school utilization plan. Just 9 years later, 6 of those 12 schools were in high utilization zones.

7 year enrolment projections are not long enough.

10 year planning is not long enough.

VSB needs a 30-year plan first before closing any schools.

 

Metro Vancouver, City of Vancouver and UBC are all creating plans to 2050, but the Vancouver School Board (VSB)’s Long Range Facilities Plan only plans to 2029. With the 2021 Census results coming out this year, and final projections from Metro 2050 and Vancouver Plan also expected this year, we are demanding to stop all school closures until VSB updates its plans and shows which school sites we need for the next 30 years. 

These plans (and others) are not taken into account in VSB’s enrolment forecasts:

18,000 more people at Jericho Lands - approval expected in 2022
15,000 more people at UBC - plan approved in 2011, update started in 2022
40,000-50,000 more people along Broadway - approval expected in 2022
10,000 more people at Senákw - construction expected in 2022
 
One million people are expected to move to the Vancouver region over the next 30 years. And Vancouver is planning to build more housing that attracts families. Places like UBC are already attracting families -- in 2016, 8.2% of UBC’s residential population were children aged 5-12 years, slightly above BC’s average of 8.1%. 

Jericho Lands will need 3 to 5 more elementary schools to serve 18,000 more people, and UBC will need 2-4 more to serve 15,000 more people1. The Ministry of Education doesn’t have a strong track record of building new schools in Vancouver -- VSB needs to keep its West Side school sites to help absorb this population boom.

For more information, visit http://www.qea-pac.ca/advocacy/no-school-closure-considerations/ 

1. Based on: VSB Preferred School Size for elementary schools 300-550 enrolled students; 2016 Canada Census UBC population 8.2% children age 5-12 years.