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