For Immediate Release: November 5, 2008 Victoria, BC
SCHOOL LANDS SALES THREATEN UNIVERSAL PUBLIC EDUCATION
News flash: The Ministry will allow school boards to sell public schools to private schools for below market value! (School Building Closure and Disposal Policy – Sept. 3, 2008) The Ministry refuses to say how many schools have been sold and how many are on the market province-wide.
At first glance Gordon Campbell and Shirley Bond’s ‘Neighbourhoods of Learning” initiative seemed positive. It looked like we might have stopped the sale of public school lands. But there are some troubling signals in the updated School Building Closure and Disposal Policy.
“Without the approval of the Minister, a board may only sell land or buildings to another board (including the Conseil scolaire francophone) or independent school for educational purposes”
“School property disposed of to: another board (including the Conseil scolaire francophone) or independent school for educational purposes; or local government or community organization for alternative community use, may be sold at less than market value.”
Bond and Campbell insist on referring to schools as “surplus”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As expected, the echo-boomers are turning 30 and having babies. By 2015 we will have regained the small 6% enrolment dip we’ve experienced since 2000. In 2016 we will begin suffering a severe space shortage – even without commitments to all-day Kindergaarten and pre-school for 3 and 4 year olds. Jessica Van der Veen, LANDS founder: “LANDS supports temporary community partnerships (especially in tiny rural areas) during this slight enrolment dip – but we must protect universal public education in the future. We can’t be selling public schools!”
“This independent school thing is worrying. Once private schools get into public school buildings – how do we get them out in 3 or 4 years when we will desperately need space?” Van der Veen wonders, “What politician will have the guts to anger the wealthy and powerful by ending a lease or sale to a private school?”
The Ministry of Education claims they don’t know how many schools have been sold nor do they know how many schools have been approved for sale by the Ministry of Labour and Citizen’s Services. Van der Veen asks: “How can they plan for the future of public education if they don’t even know how many schools are sold or for sale? How could Shirley Bond and Gordon Campbell allow this to go on when they don’t even know how many schools they have to work with? This is irresponsible in the extreme.”
Van der Veen added, “We want to make sure that every child in BC has a decent shot at life. That’s what public education is all about. We must protect public education beyond our life spans and ability to foretell. These lands belong to our great-great grandchildren. They are not ours to sell.”
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Media Contact: Jessica Van der Veen (250) 884-1953
