Plans for English public high school in Cote St. Luc fail again

Watch: No future for Wallenberg Academy

MONTREAL – Cote St. Luc residents have to wait at least another year for an English public high school after plans for Wallenberg Academy failed to get off the ground.

Ever since Wagar High closed back in 2005 there have been several attempts to re-open it.

The latest proposal, the second in more than two years, was a plan for a sports academy program to open this year.

But the project has failed to get off the ground.

Syd Wise, the Commissioner for the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) told Global News that this was due to a strategic mistake: putting too many conditions on the school opening.

“We didn’t achieve the number of students required by board resolutions,” he said.

“We have to say we’re opening regardless of the number of students.”

Along with Cote St. Luc mayor, Anthony Housefather, Wise has been one of the strongest supporters of a new school in the old Wagar building.

“We want to encourage families to move to Cote St. Luc,” Housefather told Global News.

“We want to have a public school option right now, as the vast majority of students are attending private schools.”

The EMSB first voted to open a new school in 2011 and when that didn’t work, there was a push to move Royal Vale School into the building.

When that initiative failed, the school board proposed a new plan: start a new school called Wallenberg Academy.

With its emphasis on sports, the idea was met with enthusiasm from parents.

“This is where my heart is,” said one parent at the time.

“I really would love for him to come here.”

Supporters of the new academy claim that one of its biggest assets is this new aquatic centre right across the street.

With its state-of-the-art gymnasium and swimming pool access, it would offer students a sports programs almost unheard of in other English public high schools.

Both the gym and the pool have been built for competitive sports, but according to Mayor Housefather, the EMSB just didn’t have the resources to coordinate a new sports program on such a tight deadline.

“The delay is that if you are going to propose a sports-concentrated program, there are a lot of groups that need to be contacted well in advance,” he said.

“They weren’t contacted until the last month – and that was after the registration period.”

All hope is not lost however, as another attempt is in the works for a new public high school in Cote St. Luc.

“It’s kind of a technicality as far as I’m concerned,” said Commissioner Wise.

“It may not be 2014, but it will certainly be in the next couple of years.”