Editor’s note: This story previously stated that Lakeside Academy would relocate. In fact, it would cohabitate with the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board is conducting a ‘major school change’ and St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire is on the board’s list of schools whose future is uncertain.
Hundreds attended a town-hall meeting Wednesday night to have their questions answered and hear the board’s plans.
“A lot of parents are upset about this, that’s all what we’ve been talking about,” said Angie Drakopoulos, a parent at the school.
“It’s very sad, it’s hard. We don’t know where we’re going to end up at. So that’s why we’re here, we want to keep it open, do whatever it takes to keep it open.”
Former student Jeffrey Chan says he dropped everything to come support the school and its staff.
“It was teachers who set me up to be the person I have become, this is one way I can re-thank them,” Chan told Global News.
The board discussed with the crowd the possible scenarios for the school’s future, including that St. Thomas moves to Lindsay Place High School, also in Pointe-Claire.
While Lindsay Place High School’s enrollment is low, St. Thomas High School’s isn’t.
“Why are they even touching a school that is running at full capacity? It makes no sense,” said Agnes Gavin, another St. Thomas mother.
The board suggested St. Thomas could merge with Lindsay Place while some of its students and staff are relocated elsewhere, as well as other options.
“None of them make sense, none of them,” reacted Gavin.
St. Thomas and Lindsay Place High Schools are two of the five schools considered in the context of the board’s Major School Change.
The board launched the initiative back in May in order to consolidate their school network, saying it faces a steady decline in enrollment and several of their schools are not completely full.
“It’s not so much that we are just trying to fill a building. It’s that once you get below 400 students, it’s difficult to offer all the options of different courses to the students,” said Noel Burke, the chairman of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
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Beurling Academy in Verdun could also be relocated. The building would then be re-purposed.
Lakeside Academy in Lachine could cohabitate with the French Marguerite-Bourgeouys School Board (CSMB).
Other institutions could be handed over to the overcrowded CSMB.
As for St Thomas’ building, the board says it stays within the network and that the move to Lindsay Place is not set in stone.
“Lindsay Place is a better quality building to house the St. Thomas community, it’s simply an offer,” Burke said.
Parents and the governing board of the schools can still present briefs during public hearings, scheduled for Nov. 26 and 27.
The board expects to reach a decision by the end of next January so changes can be implemented in time for the new school year in September 2020.