The ThunderBlogs

On Thursday, a small group of parents, educators and community leaders gathered in Strathcona community centre for a meeting about school closures in East Vancouver.  The driving rain likely kept many at home, but those that did show up to the small room on the community centre’s ground floor spoke passionately about keeping schools like Seymour and Queen Alexandra Elementary open.

Jenny Kwan, MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, moderated a panel discussion about the effects of cuts to education spending.

For Andrea Esslemont, an Aboriginal mother living in Strathcona, the closing of Seymour Elementary school means a huge upheaval.  Esslemont, a mother of three, used to transport her ten year old daughter, who has special needs, to a school outside of the neighbourhood.  She worked for a year to get her child into a school closer to her home.  Within weeks of her daughter starting school, Esslemont found out that Seymour had been identified as one of 11 possible school closures.

Having her daughter at a school in the neighbourhood is important for Esslemont because she believes that there is more community support available there.  She said that going to a school nearby means that her daughter works with people who know her and can keep her safe.  She worries about her daughter getting lost in the system if she attends a larger school.  She is also concerned about the logistics of moving her daughter elsewhere.

Chrystal Tabobandung, from the Ojibwe nation, has four boys attending Queen Alexandra Elementary.  “I haven’t considered it,” she said when asked what she’d do if the school closed, “I’m going to fight with everything I have.”  Tabobandung called for parents to join together and act, rather than relying on petitions and meetings to stop the government’s planned closures.

Noel Herron, former principal of Strathcona Elementary school, highlighted the vulnerability of inner city students.  While the government cites declining enrollment as a reason for closing the schools, Herron believes that smaller classes are necessary for children in the area.  He also pointed to the role of schools as resource centres for the neighbourhood.  “You close a school, you close the heart of a community,” he said.