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.
5 comments:
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am a U-Hill secondary patrent. I am writing this e-mail to exress serious concern about the unbelievably crowded status of the school and the strongest support for the original plan to rebuild and expand the school which has been absurdly deranged so far.
During a couple of monthes, I have felt a little bit miserable to see the progress of this profoundly important matter going into an unexpected situation by some people who do not recognize the seriousness of the environment of U-Hill and I would almost forcefully like to recommend them to visit U-Hill secondary and stay with students for a few hours who have been patient enough to be praised. I am very confident that they cannot put any words to reverse the original plan onto this situation.
We cannot wait for another chance. The decision should be immediate and be done very normally and reasonably. I don't really want to see my child squatting down on the dirty hallway which is crowded and hazy to have her lunch any more.
We are a immigrant family from South Korea. I have never seen the situation like this that U-Hill presently has in Korea, and never expected this frustration that I have now in Canada.
Thank you very much for your time and effort to read this mail.
Very sincerely,
I landed in Vancouver as a permanent resident with my two sons, (grade 11) and (grade 10) on 31st May 2008. On Sunday 1st June, we battled jetlag to walk the short distance from our house to look at University Hill Secondary school. It looks nice and my boys need to make friends as we don't know a soul in Vancouver. On Monday 2nd June, enrolling my sons at the Vancouver School Board is my top priority. The staff are efficient and welcoming. After filling in all the papers, I sit with my sons and watch all the children being allocated schools, seemingly all on the east side. I meet the lovely Mr Wong. With the innocence of a newcomer, I ask what happens next. Mr Wong tells me that our papers will go to University Hill but 'it is very overcrowded'. I ask what this means. Mr Wong tells me that the principal will contact the next school along to see if they have a place. The next school is Lord Byng. I start to worry. When I get home, I phone Lord Byng and ask if we can come and look round. A nice lady called Shelley told me that 'they are also full and have already taken 25 students from University Hill'. I start to panic. I have been a single parent for ten years but this is the first time I have felt feckless. Emigrating to a new country so close to the end of their school years and leaving a good school behind in the UK may mean that they won't get in university in Canada without the right school to support them.
We return to the VSB offices on Thursday for the math tests. We see Mr Wong again. I tell him that Lord Byng is also full. He already knows, and tell me that Kitsilano high school may have places 'and they have a good basketball team'. My boys are both over six feet and look as if they should be good at basketball but this is not a common sport in the UK. Mr Wong does not know which school Sam and Chad will end up at. I must wait for a call from the principal who has a place, somewhere on the west side, some time in the next few weeks. Will this be before the schools break up for summer, I ask. Yes. On the way home, I stop to buy a basketball and send the boys to the basketball area near our house. After a sleepless night, I get on the phone to University Hill. A very efficient lady there already has our papers in front of her. She explains how horribly overcrowded the school is and tells me that they will, in fact, hold on to my sons' papers until the end of the summer when all the local school principals get together with the VSB and place all the students who do not have a school. So there it is. We must wait three months, not knowing where they will go to school, not knowing any kids for them to hang out with this summer. It is a disastrous start to our new life.
This morning, I read the Hampton Journal (neighbourhood paper) and see that principal Jill Philipchuk of University Hill looks like a force to be reckoned with and that an easy solution to the problem is at hand as an empty building on campus could be quickly converted to a new high school for the relatively low sum of $30 million. Her determination cheers me up and I feel a glimmer of hope again. If the wheels of bureaucracy turn a bit quicker than average (or maybe a lot) my sons might go to school in their own neighbourhood? I'd even help to raise the funds myself, have my hair shaved off or jump in the sea naked off Wreck Beach. Whatever it takes......
To all those concerned with adequate school facilities for BC Children!
My two sons were both educated at University Primary and Secondary Schools. The last one graduated last year. Every year they were there, the student population grew until the schools were ridiculously crowded, with no cafeteria/lunchroom facilities at all, and very old, outdated, inadequate (portables) and in some cases unsafe facilities. We have been waiting and hoping for YEARS expecting that each year a new school would be announced and built as soon as possible. When will it finally happen?
UBC is building a new community of thousands of residents which will be occupied fully in less than a year!!!!! There will be many MORE children living in the community, and MORE will be turned away, or have to go to school in these substandard facilities. In the new Hawthorn community, many more children are residing in the neighbourhood than obviously UBC ever expected or planned for…they have created a large part of this problem and should be heavily involved in solving it as soon as possible.
The overcrowding at University Hill Elementary and University Hill Secondary is not acceptable. The number of children (over 200) that are forced to attend out-of-catchment schools is not acceptable. Our children are in need of new schools NOW. They cannot wait any longer while you conduct review after review.
The final plan, as presented June 11, 2008 presents an unacceptable delay for our children. No rebuilt high school until late 2010. No new elementary school until sometime in 2012. AND, there is no secure funding in place yet!!!
How long do our children have to wait? How old will they be when there is finally a school in place?
All public schools in BC are funded by the provincial government. As a resident of the UEL/UBC neighbourhoods, I pay my school taxes to the provincial government just like any other resident in the City of Vancouver or BC. Our children are entitled to equal access to a school in their catchment just like other children within the Vancouver School Board.
On June 25, we need you to tell our children they deserve to attend schools in their catchment with normal class sizes just like their friends who live east of Blanca.
Please do not procrastinate any longer on this issue, build new schools immediately, and make it the VSBs top priority.
Thank you!
Dear Madam/Sir:
Do you know the funny story which happened this year at U-Hill Secondary School? I heard this joke from my friends. A basketball team from another high school came to the U-Hill Secondary School for a game with U-Hill Secondary School basketball team. Their bus came here and couldn’t find the school and went back. Of course the game was canceled. They said they came to the address of the U-Hill Secondary School, but they didn’t find any school at that area except several old barns. U-Hill basketball team people told them the “old barns” Are U-Hill Secondary School.
Our children need a new U-Hill Secondary School!!!
Dear Charles
I must admit I was not ready for the timeline concerns. Like most trustees I thought it was a win-win result. Following your response, I have taken your concerns to staff in order for all of us to better understand the timeline.
The Vancouver School Board is committed to moving forward as expeditiously as possible with the provision of elementary and secondary school facilities for the University of British Columbia (UBC) and University Endowment Lands communities (UEL).
Although details of financing arrangements with the Ministry of Education and UBC need to be finalized, district management considers the progress made since April to be a major step forward. I agree with their conclusion but I understand you may not see this as a ‘win, win’. The recommendations outlined in the June 11th report are based on district management's assessment that there is sufficient commitment among all parties (Ministry, UBC and VSB) to approve the UBC to Dunbar Neighbourhood of Learning development plan which includes new schools at UBC.
As part of the implementation of the Neighbourhood of Learning framework, the VSB must ensure that the new secondary school proposed for the National Research Council site and the new elementary school proposed for the Acadia Road site will achieve a design that will support the provision of innovative education programs. Therefore, the VSB has allocated sufficient time to permit detailed planning and design work leading to the preparation of construction tender documentation. 12 months is required to do this work.
School construction projects such as these typically require 12 months to 18 months to complete. Considering current market conditions, shortage of certain trades, competitiveness in supply and installation of construction materials, it is believed that this construction timeline is reasonable.
The VSB is keenly aware of the high degree on interest and desire for new school facilities to serve the growing UBC / UEL communities. The last thing the VSB would want to do is commit to project timelines that may not be viable due to market factors that are out of the control of the district.
Assuming that we as a Board approve the recommendations, VSB Facilities staff will make every effort to find ways to expedite the school design and construction process. For instance, UBC Properties Trust may be able to assist with expediting some work prior to construction at the NRC site. We are assessing these types of options.
With regard to specific information that was presented in the Phase-1 Report (January 10th, 2008) the anticipated timeline indicated 18 to 24 months to renovate the NRC building, 12 to 18 months to renovate the Acadia Road building and 12 to 18 months to utilize the renovated Acadia Road building as temporary accommodation for Jules Quesnel (See Page 33 of the report).
The recent recommendation regarding “Option C” temporary accommodation for Jules Quesnel, would permit occupancy of the new elementary school at Acadia Road by UBC / UEL students as soon as it is ready.
In addition, the January 10th report clearly stated (on page 21) that,
Recently, UBC Properties Trust advised that it needs a commitment from the VSB that it will enter into a memorandum of understanding with respect to the option to convert the NRC building into a public secondary school. A decision needs to be made no later than March 2008. If a decision is not made by this date, the proposed construction timeline and occupancy date will be delayed and additional costs would be incurred.
With the associated decision to extend the EFR Phase-1 consultation process from March to June 2008, the NRC project timeline has, in effect, been extended by at least 4 months. I believe that VSB messaging regarding viable project timelines has been consistent. The reports prepared by the VSB did not indicate a possible construction start date for the NRC building as being June 2008.
I hope this clarification provides sufficient comfort that the VSB is committed to moving forward with UBC secondary and elementary school projects as quickly as is possible.
In closing I would like to thank you for acknowledging the hard work that went into bringing this recommendation forward. Your understanding that option ‘C’ is an attempt to move students into the newly converted elementary school as quickly as possible is also appreciated.
Yours truly,
Clarence Hansen
Chair
Vancouver Board of Education
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