VSB REORGANIZATION AND FUTURE OF SCHOOL ANNEXES

The following article was passed on to me by Hal Milne.

With the possible closure and sale of the Westside's Queen Elizabeth School Annex (129 kindergarten to Grade 3 students) by a cash-starved Vancouver School Board, to raise an estimated $ 25 million to fund the relocation of University Hill Secondary students in UBC's vacant National

Research building, questions now arises about the continued viability of Vancouver's entire network of small school annexes.

Why Annexes were built

Unique to Vancouver, and dating back to the mid 50's, these 16 small (see list), primary, buildings serve young children by emphasizing a close knit, nurturing, educational environment. Size, proximity and adaptability of instruction

were important considerations in the setting up of this distinct network of schools.

Most annexes were specifically located to avoid having students younger than Grade 4 cross busy arterial intersections. Spread across the city and averaging 100 students, these educational entities are highly regarded and strongly supported by parents.

Indeed many of the VSB's significant curriculum changes to its early childhood programs-- the writing of the province's first all-day kindergarten program; the introduction of the informal, influential, British Infant School approach to early learning-- emanated from the collaborative work of primary teaching staffs and parents in these buildings.

The first cuts to Annexes

Because of financial constraints due to declining enrollment (the board has lost 4,300 students since 1997), and pressure from the ministry of education on Vancouver to reduce excess capacity in the recently announced UBC/Dunbar review, (the first phase of a three-part reorganization plan), the board, it seems, has now made the decision to zero in

for possible closures on its network of small primary annexes.

Apart from the closure of Shannon Park Annex over four years ago these cuts now represent the first of a string of closures across the city.

Many annex parents have voiced concerns about the transfer of their children to what has been called 'big box' schools.

While Garibaldi annex's financial sustainability is in question with only 41 students, parents in this school feel that VSB has not, up to recently, explored options such as a full-service (providing an array of local social/health and ancillary services) school to ward off closure.

Challenging the ministry

Despite the fact that Queen Elizabeth Annex with three times the number of students-129- that Garibaldi has, it remains on the chopping block. This has led some parents to strongly challenge, for the first time, using a comparable economic/business model, the practicality and fairness of the forced closures stemming from the 95% occupancy rate imposed by the ministry of education on Vancouver.

The future?

Within the past few months the NPA-dominated Vancouver

Board has been examining the closure of both Garibaldi and Queen Elizabeth annexes and this trend now points to the closure of at least five or six other Vancouver annexes with declining enrollment when the next two phases of the board's reorganization plans are announced.

An under-100-sudents mark has been suggested as the at- --risk figure for closure, but confirmation of this cut off statistic is difficult to obtain.

In a recent report in the Vancouver Sun VSB chair, Clarence Hansen, insisted that "the proposed closures and program changes to redistribute enrolment in the rest of the city remain confidential" despite calls from COPE opposition trustees to release the original, city-wide, review prepared by the former director of facilities, Les King, and tabled, in camera, last June.

Because of the NPA-dominated board's three-phased approach to school reorganization and closures-- termed "fragmented and rushed "by opposition trustees-the system-wide debate on the future of small school annexes in Vancouver, it appears, will not now take place.

Will many annexes quietly disappear from the scene without analysis or discussion?

It's ironic that the VSB's in its recent hand-outs at ongoing school meetings speak, (using ponderous terminology), about a "desire for alternative options for elementary students" within a" broadened common neighbourhood of learning" yet, the current trend now points to the questionable elimination of many stellar and long-established school annexes for young children.

Lastly, the question must be asked: are these closures really the balancing "of needs with opportunities" that the Vancouver school board seeks in its initial foray into city-wide school reorganization?

VANCOUVER'S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ANNEXES

SCHOOL POPULATION

Champlain Heights Annex 85

Collingwood Neighbourhood

(Bruce Annex) 154

Dickens Annex 104

Douglas Annex 199

Garibaldi 41

Henderson Annex 105

Kerrisdale Annex 122

Laurier Annex 136

Maquinna Annex 109

McBride Annex 97

Queen Elizabeth Annex 129

Queen Victoria Annex 133

Roberts Annex 146

Selkirk Annex 99

Tecumseh Annex 114

Tillicum Annex 119

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Note: The second school-based meeting on the closure of Queen

Elizabeth Annex will be held at 7:00 pm on Jan 29, .while the board

will vote on the closure of Garibaldi in March.

Noel Herron is a former Vancouver school principal and school

trustee. This article will appear in an upcoming edition of the

Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' newsletter.