Parents state their case over major school change proposals
After six months of public consultations and emotional town hall meetings, the Lester B. Pearson School Board must now weigh all the options and decide how to best restructure its network of schools for the future.
The fate of several West Island high schools, including St. Thomas and Lindsay Place, hang in the balance as the school board’s Council of Commissioners decide on a course of action set out in its Major School Change (MSC) policy.
The LBPSB will present its MSC resolutions on Dec. 17.
“At that meeting we will table resolutions for the changes that we’ve finally come to the conclusions are the best,” said LBPSB chair Noel Burke.
The LBPSB held its final town hall meeting last Wednesday at John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire. School board officials and commissioners heard a dozen or so presentations, including input from school governing boards who submitted briefs on the MSC proposals.
Not surprisingly, most of the presenters made impassioned cases why their schools should remain as is.
Celena Scheede-Bergdahl, chair of the St. Thomas governing board, told commissioners that its main proposal is to leave both St. Thomas and Lindsay Place high school communities in their current locations. She also pitched the idea of moving the adult education centres at Place Cartier and Allancroft to Lindsay Place rather than St. Thomas, which is operating at near full capacity.
Scheede-Bergdahl told the West Island Gazette that the uncertainty over the school’s future has taken a toll on parents. “I know of people who were supposed to come to St. Thomas, they’re now going to Loyola ... or Royal West.”
Scheede-Bergdahl said the possibility of a school merger, and the closing of another English high school on the West Island, is a “lose-lose” situation. “It’s pitting schools against each other. It’s really unfortunate.”
Tara Shaughnessy, chair of the Lindsay Place governing board, proposed a gradual merger of St. Thomas and Lindsay Place that would see the schools operate as separate campuses next year.
Under the proposal, Cycle 2 students would be grandfathered into respective programs from both schools.
Eventually both schools would merge at Lindsay Place by 2021. Staffing seniority would be observed. Once the merger is complete, a new Deed of Establishment for the school would be created.
Lindsay Place also declined an MSC proposal to share space with adult ed. students
Lakeside Academy in Lachine made its case as a key geographical link between LaSalle and PointeClaire for the school board. Governing board chair Karen Bleakley also noted success in boosting school enrolment figures in recent years, with the possibility of growing those numbers in the future with the redistribution of students from other merged schools.
Bleakley also floated ideas about the creation of a Middle School, enhanced sports programs (including cricket) and adding a
Grade 12 option at Lakeside.
Burke said no decisions have yet been taken, but the status quo will not likely remain an option for the LBPSB, which has been dealing with declining enrolment across its network for years.
The latest Major School Change study found the number of English-eligible students in the LBPSB territory declined by 5,000 students — to 25,023 from 30,226 — between 2009-10 and 2016-17. The study also found that seven of 11 secondary schools were operating at 60 per cent capacity or less as of 2017-18.
Last year the issue came to the fore when underused Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds was transferred to Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys by Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge to deal with overcrowding in the French system.
Burke acknowledged that school closures and mergers can be nerve-racking for students, parents, teachers and staff.
“People are fearful of change,” he said. “People are emotionally attached to schools. They’re more emotionally attached to the name of the schools so we have to tread lightly. Our hope this time, and that’s our objective, is to stabilize the high school system for the next 10 years.”