District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) Update March-April

• By JO pac
• Posted in Meetings
• On April 27, 2023
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District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) Update March-April

• The DPAC Facilities Committee has been meeting with City Councilors and Vancouver MLAs over the last couple of months to discuss the discrepancies between VSB enrolment projections and Ministry of Education and Child Care projections (VSB is projecting 5000 fewer students in 10 years while the MoE is projecting 5000 more students). This year, the VSB experienced a record 2.5% increase in enrolment.  VSB is using its projections of fewer students to justify closing schools and disposing of land.
• The Board of Trustees voted April 11 to deem Queen Elizabeth Annex land ‘surplus’ which means the VSB can decide to sell or lease the land for 99 years. VSB had already decided to close QEA at the end of this year.
• The QEA parent society has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court seeking a judicial review of the VSB’s decision to close Queen Elizabeth Annex.
• VSB has informed Ideal minischool that they will be relocating to the Churchill main school building to make room for Sir Wilfred Laurier Elementary School without consultation.
• Although the VSB’s Land Asset Strategy has not been made public, it appears that there are at least 13 more schools slated for closure across Vancouver.
• The DPAC Facilities Committee is bringing the following motion forward to DPAC for all PACs to vote on at the May 25^th meeting:

Motion: Enhancing Vancouver’s Education System through Transparency, Collaborative Planning, and Multi-Functional Facilities; A Call for the City of Vancouver’s Active Involvement

Be it resolved that the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) requests the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver School Board (VSB) to jointly develop a comprehensive social infrastructure policy through transparent and participatory planning processes.

Be it resolved that DPAC requests the Joint Committee on Education to publicly disclose demographic projections of school-aged children in Vancouver, derived from both VSB and City staff data.

Please read the full rational here.

On April 26, 2023, John Oliver PAC voted to support the resolution. JO’s DPAC Representative will vote accordingly at the May 25th DPAC General Meeting.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact JO PAC DPAC representative Samantha Anderson at pac_jo@vsb.bc.ca.

As always, all parents are welcome to join DPAC General Meetings. The next one is May 25^th– Register here.

DPAC is also always looking for people to join its committees. See a list of committees and contacts here.