Too many students will be displaced if the Vancouver School Board decides to close Carleton Elementary, NDP MLA Adrian Dix said at a press conference yesterday.
The school’s population of 380 makes it bigger than any other school closed in B.C. in the past decade, the Vancouver-Kingsway MLA revealed in a report.
As a result, some of Carleton’s current students would be left without seats in the six surrounding schools, forcing them to find education farther afield.
“Everybody at the school is very stressed,” said Kaitlin Wong, a Grade 6 Carleton student.
Neighbours in Vancouver’s Renfrew-Collingwood are fighting to keep Carleton Elementary open after the VSB short-listed the historic school, among four others, for potential closure at the end of June 2011 due to budget cuts.
“This neighbourhood is built up around this school. It’s a historic landmark,” said Dix. “I don’t believe this would happen in other parts of Vancouver.”
The VSB will hold a public consultation at 7 p.m. tonight and on Nov. 2 at Windermere Community School, at 3155 E. 27th Ave. See savecarleton.ca for more information.
