Facebook | Mike Lombardi for Vancouver Board of Education
Mike Lombardi will be seeking a Vision Vancouver nomination for the Vancouver Board of Education.
Author Archives: cmenzies
Early Learning Centres -are they part of the UBC deal
The VSB’s educational facilities review (EFR) includes the suggestion that a transfer of property from the school board to the province will lead to new schools at UBC sometime in the next 4-5 years.
Rumours abound about what is happening. In emails sent to U Hill parents trustees, including Al Blakey, Ken Denike, and Sharron Gregson, have implied -without actually stating outright- that big things are around the corner. There has been a suggestion, which first arrived at a VSB committee II meeting just under two weeks ago that the Premier wants to use three (or four) VSB schools for new early learning centres. It seems that this might have something to do with the rebuilding of UBC schools.
We may well be witness to a PR event June 25 as opposed to a normal school board meeting that is to vote on the EFR.
Steffenhagen on VSB Facilities Review
A summary of blog entries by the Vancouver Sun’s education reporter.
Vancouver Sun on Flawed VSB Plan
Successful lobbying on Vancouver’s westside
Vancouver school trustees are crediting parents – who lobbied long and hard on behalf of their schools – with creating the conditions that will allow them to:
– Lift the threat of closure from Queen Elizabeth annex.
– Open a new elementary school for the many children now being bussed from UBC endowment lands to westside schools.
– Move the crowded University Hill secondary to a larger space on the UBC campus.
– Complete seismic upgrades for existing schools in the UBC-Dunbar area.
– Expand French immersion
Parents’ lobbying saves school from closure
New plan for west-side schools to leave Queen Elizabeth annex open
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, June 14, 2008
VANCOUVER – Vancouver school trustees are crediting months of intense lobbying by parents for a new plan for west-side schools that will save Queen Elizabeth annex from closure.
Details of the plan have not yet been released to the public.
Audio Recording of June 11 VSB Meeting
Click here to listen. This recording provides interested parties with a full version of the events. Additional materials are published in previous comments and in an article published by the Vancouver Courier.
Vancovuer Courier Article on VSB Final Proposal
QE annex may dodge the wrecking ball. UBC Schools Delayed
Recommendations spark mixed reactions
Naoibh O’Connor, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, June 13, 2008
Reaction was mixed to school board recommendations unveiled Wednesday night that would save a West Side school from closure, while promising new schools near UBC.
The recommendations are part of a final report on the first phase of the district’s educational facilities review, which targets the Dunbar area.
Initial recommendations proposed shutting down Queen Elizabeth annex and selling the land to pay for renovations at UBC’s National Research Council building, which would be turned into a high school. University Hill secondary would then be modernized and converted into an elementary.
Vancouver Sun Article on Aboriginal Education
Vancouver Sun reporter, Janet Steffenhagen, brings us an informative and positive story about successes in aboriginal education. Her story is a fitting companion to the federal government’s apology.
Aboriginal educators find hope amid dismal student results
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, June 13, 2008
Kathi Dickie began working with aboriginal students 25 years ago when she was employed as a home-school coordinator in Fort Nelson, tracking down truants and other students who were missing from school.
She knows from that experience — and her years at a residential school — about the troubled relations between aboriginal families and the public school system. She’s also familiar with dismal statistics that suggest aboriginal teenagers entering high school are just as likely to drop out as they are to graduate.
Yet she has found reason for hope. “I’m seeing a change,” Dickie, who later became a teacher, said in an interview, pointing to the federal apology for residential schools, a recent agreement giving B.C. first nations more control over their children’s education and gradual changes in provincial curriculum to recognize aboriginal history and culture.
VSB Plan Adds Uncertainty and Time
Tonight’s school meeting was a disappointing event. The ‘final’ proposal is to approve, subject to securing funding, the rebuilding of the high school at the NRC site and to convert the current high school into a second elementary school.
This does sound okay at first. However, there are some serious problems.
- the timeline adds a full year and a half to the move in time. What was originally promised as a Sept. 2009 opening for a rebuild high school in the old NRC Building is now projected as a late 2010 opening.
- the second elementary school will not open until sometime in 2012.
- all of this is contingent upon securing funding. However, as of June 11th there is no agreement in place to proceed. The school board said that there is a piece of property owned by the school board that might be transferred to the province but they would not say anything further about that except that if the transfer of the undisclosed property takes place there will be enough money to rebuild the schools.
We need you to keep the pressure on. The school board needs to know that we need our schools and that the delays are not appropriate.
You and your neighbours will have received this week a postcard from the UNA, the UEL residents, and the two U Hill Parent Advisory Councils asking you to email the school board and the province. Please do this. We have set up an easy email web site for you to use. The URL is http://www.rebuilduhill.ca.
The complete report can be download here.
. It is also on the VSB web site http://www.vsb.bc.ca
There will be an opportunity to make a public presentation to the school board on June 19th. The school board will make it’s final decision on June 25th.
VSB Final Solution
Vancouver, B.C. – (June 11, 2008) – The Vancouver Board of Education trustees have received final recommendations following an extensive first phase of its Educational Facilities Review and public consultation to improve education program facilities, support innovation and develop strategic education plans that move toward operational sustainability.
The recommendations, if accepted by the Board, would lead to new opportunities in public education for the Dunbar to UBC area with a new elementary school, new secondary school, seismic upgrades for existing schools, modernization of facilities along with new programs and services for students including expanded French immersion.
In order to implement this plan, discussions with the Ministry of Education are under way to transfer property not currently used by the Vancouver Board of Education to the Ministry. The proposed property transfer would provide sufficient funding for the new secondary and elementary schools, and assist with modernization programs.
QEA Perspective on VSB Final Solution
Home – Save Queen Elizabeth Annex: Home
Good News – June 11, 2008
VSB staff presented their final proposal to the Board of Trustees tonight. We are all delighted to see that closure of QEA has been taken off the table!! Please see the VSB’s short news release on the VSB’s website.
We are delighted by the latest version of the plan, while it is not all we were hoping for it is a vast improvement over the original proposal to close and sell QEA. Delegations may speak to the board of trustees on June 19th after which the trustees will vote on June 23.
We cannot thank you enough for your support.