July 3rd Minister Letter

Ministry of

Office of the Minister

Mailing Address:

Location:

Education

PO Box 9045 Stn Prov Govt

Parliament Buildings

Victoria BC V8W 9E2

Victoria

July 3, 2019

Ref: 210181

Parents & Community Members of Olympic Village

Email: olympicvillageschool@gmail.com

Dear Parents and Community Members of Olympic Village:

Thank you for your email of May 15, 2019, expressing your support for a temporary school in

the Olympic Village area and subsequent new permanent Olympic Village Elementary school in

Vancouver. I apologize for the delay in my response.

I understand and appreciate you sharing your interest around a new school in the Olympic

Village area. It is important to know, British Columbia’s locally-elected boards of education are

separate legal entities created under the School Act. School trustees are elected to the board of

education within each school district and are accountable to their electorate for their budgetary

decisions. In accordance with the School Act, the Ministry of Education sets K–12 education

standards and provides funding, while local boards of education are responsible for making

decisions regarding the operation and maintenance of schools, opening, closing and grade

reconfiguration of schools within each school district.

The Province evaluates capital funding allocations to school districts based on prioritized

requests in their Annual Capital Plan submissions. A District’s Annual Capital Plan submission

identifies projects that are a priority to undertake within the district. The Vancouver School

Board (VSB) identified a new school in the Olympic Village area in their Annual Five-Year

Capital Plan submission as a high priority for expansion; however, student safety is the top

priority for the Ministry.

The Vancouver School District has 62 high seismic risk schools still to be strengthened or

replaced in the Seismic Mitigation Program. The Ministry is committed to accelerating the

school Seismic Mitigation Program and are currently working with school boards, and local

municipal officials to meet an ambitious timeline to get schools upgraded quickly.

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While the Vancouver School District is experiencing enrolment growth in certain areas, it is

experiencing stable or declining enrolment in other areas. Overall, enrolment is declining in

Vancouver School District and is forecasted to continue to decline over the next ten years. The

District has a large number of surplus seats with many schools operating below their intended

capacities. For example, Florence Nightingale Elementary and Crosstown Elementary are

operating well below capacity and are less than two kilometres from Olympic Village.

Careful planning is required on how to best utilize Vancouver schools to meet student enrolment

and to determine which schools are priorities for investment now and in the future. I understand

the Vancouver School District is currently reviewing enrolment, catchments, and programming

in an effort to best utilize available space.

Ultimately, boards, not the Ministry, have the autonomy to decide how best to address the needs

of students within their local communities, and parents are encouraged to work with their local

board of education to ensure the educational needs of their children are met. I encourage you to

work with the Vancouver School Board as they are best able to answer any detailed questions

you may have about the construction of new schools within the District.

Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Rob Fleming

Minister