Update on Status of Rebuilding Our Schools

NEW SCHOOL???
By Jill Philipchuk, Principal UHS

Last night (June 25, 2008) at a special meeting of the Board, a motion was passed to renovate the NRC building into a new secondary school by 2011. This renovation would occur once an agreement with the Ministry is finalized to do a land transfer of the Anne Hebert site to the Francophone School District. Queen Elizabeth Annex will remain open but will become a single track primary French Immersion school. There are also other details that are part of the motion - details will be posted on the VSB website.

But - the bottom line - is that I feel confident that we will have a new school.

Several trustees commended our parents and our students for their presentations at past meetings - particularly the last one. They also commented several times about the need to try as hard as possible to expedite the time line.

So -- thank you to all of the parents who worked so hard to show the trustees the need for a new school. Your time and effort are much appreciated. Mark Dale (VSB Director of Planning and Facilities) said at the meeting last night that feasibility studies will begin immediately. I expect that over the next few months parents, staff and students will be asked for input so that the new school will best meet our needs.

Thank you to all of you!

U Hill Secondary Student Supports Proposal and Calls on Politicians to Act Quickly!

To All VSB Trustees, Gordon Campbell, and the Ministry of Education

I am currently a student of University Hill Secondary, and I recently heard of proposals to rebuild our overcrowded school.

My main message here is to say that I SUPPORT THIS PROPOSAL 250%.

I also understand that the decision is now almost completely decided upon but there will be delays. I am disappointed to know there will be delays because it is simply not fair for those students who have endured years and years in our overcrowded school. Our school needs to be rebuilt now, as soon as possible. The conditions my fellow 560 students and I face everyday are simply intolerable. We simply and seriously need a new building.

Just like all the other students in Vancouver, everyday I get up in the morning to go to school, learn, and make the most of it. But what differentiates Uhill students from other Vancouver students is the intolerable conditions of our small school. First of all, the school only has one storey and limited space. We only have one undersized gymnasium in which gym classes - which are split into boys' classes and girls' classes - have to take turn using. On our last day of PE class, we had to share the gym and the field outside and still, I could not get a decent, safe badminton ralley going with my friend without hitting someone.

The classrooms are overcrowded. There aren't even enough classrooms to house all the students. Some important courses - such as Socials Studies and French - are held off-timetable, forcing students to be at school at 7:30 in the morning or get off late. This takes away time students can use to pursue extracurricular activities. Also, some classes are currently held in the library, so other students can't use the room during those periods.

The lunch hour is especially irritating. First, the halls are crowded to the point where they're virtually inaccessible. On rainy days, all the students squish in to eat their home-made lunches on the dirt-crusted, wet floor. We have no cafeteria. Students line up for an endless amount of time to wait at the school stores or, even worse, endure the long lineup to the three or four microwaves we have at the school. The line-up can take up to a quarter of the lunch hour or more.

My parents pay the taxes. My teachers pay the taxes. My neighbours pay the taxes. University Hill is recognized as an accomplished school in Vancouver. We all deserve a new school. We deserved one a long time ago.

Last but not least, I am happy to hear that Queen Elizabeth Annex will not be closed down because of us.

Please. Rebuild our school...SOON.

Thank you!

University Hill Secondary student

School Board's Final Proposal -more delays

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.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Dear Fellow Parents, Guardians and UBC/UEL Residents,
We are facing a crisis in our schools and need your continued support. Our local schools need to be rebuilt and expanded!

We need you to e-mail the VSB school trustees and provincial government to let them know action is needed NOW. Let them know that students, parents, guardians, and area residents have waited too many years for the same school facilities that exist in Vancouver. We all pay through our taxes for public schools. Our children have a right to publicly funded schools.

A critical decision on the future of our schools will be made June 19, and the decision-makers need to hear from as many of us as possible before that date. They need to be reminded that hundreds of families in the UBC/UEL
area are affected and concerned, and that we insist on fair treatment.

Go to our webpage http://www.rebuilduhill.ca and send your message in one easy step.

You can call the VSB Office of The Secretary Treasurer directly at 604-713-5286.

You can contact us by email rebuild.uhill@gmail.com


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A number of emails from U Hill parents and community members, that were copied to our email, have been added below for information.