In the face of parent concern about overcrowded schools in the university neighbourhoods, the Vancouver School Board has now given a somewhat higher priority to construction of a new elementary school.
“There is a long-term need for additional elementary capacity in the UBC area as the community develops further residential areas of the campus,” the board’s facilities planning committee said, in a report recommending the priority change.
At its June meeting, the full board approved its 2025–26 major capital plan that accepted the views of the facilities committee and raised the priority of a new school for the south campus neighbourhood to a Year-Four priority, an incremental change from the Year-Five priority in the previous capital plan.
Priorities for provincial government funding are ranked based on a five-year capital plan. School projects identified for funding in Years One and Two are considered the most urgent.
The facilities planning report says that “existing schools in the UBC area have a high-capacity utilization.” Parents simply say they are overcrowded. Parents have told The Campus Resident they sometimes have to send their children to schools outside the catchment areas for the two elementary schools serving university neighbourhoods—Norma Rose Point and University Hill.
The new school would have a capacity to teach 410 students. UBC has reserved land for the school at Ross Drive and Birney Avenue.
The change in priority does not mean a new school will be built any time soon. A board spokesperson told The Campus Resident that projects in Years Four and Five of the plan are flagged for the government when the board sees a future need. A lease for the school site would not be signed until the government gives preliminary funding approval.
Suzie Mah, a board trustee representing the Coalition of Progressive Electors, says the capital planning process used by the province is too cumbersome. “It’s complex and in the end, it causes huge delays in getting schools built. For me, five years is way too long to wait.”
The Vancouver School Board provides public school services in the university neighbourhoods and the University Endowment Lands even though these areas are not part of the Vancouver municipality. The communities are rather considered unincorporated rural areas within Metro Vancouver.
WARREN CARAGATA IS A JOURNALIST, EDITORIAL CONSULTANT AND MEMBER OF THE CAMPUS RESIDENT NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.