Stall in facilities review raises hopes of parents

School plans up in the air
Naoibh O’Connor, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, June 06, 2008

A last-minute postponement of a school board committee meeting Wednesday, which was supposed to reveal final recommendations for the first phase of the district’s educational facilities review, has some parents hopeful a solution is being brokered that will provide for new schools near UBC, while possibly avoiding the selling of Queen Elizabeth annex land.

The facilities review had suggested shutting down Queen Elizabeth annex–a kindergarten to Grade 3 school–and selling the property to raise money to renovate the National Research Council building at UBC as a high school. University Hill secondary would then be turned into an elementary school. New schools are desperately needed around the university to handle a population explosion of school-age children due to development. But the controversial proposals sparked much debate and pitted different parent interests against each other.

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