Welcome to Forum Vancouver, an online discussion community for Metro Vancouver Hide
We have message boards for you to chat about shopping, community events, places to eat, things to do and much more!
Consider helping our forum grow by sharing your knowledge about living in the Greater Vancouver area.

is free and only takes a few moments to complete.

Bike Lane on Hornby or prevent school closures

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Fairness, Oct 6, 2010.

  1. Fairness

    Fairness New Member

    Would you rather see the new bike lane at 3.2 million (a 6 month pilot project) or should the City "donate" the funds to keeping schools open in Vancouver?
     
  2. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    School closures aren't cool. There are more pressing issues than bike lanes (which we have plenty of).
     
  3. ema

    ema Full Member

    No the government should take the money and donate it somewhere else. Yeah we're upset that the schools are closed but at the same time it's not practical to have a school remain open if it's only 42% enrolled with students.

    And I think the bike lane on Hornby is stupid.
    'nuff said
     
  4. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    Agreed in principle, but it's not always that simple. The thing is that a school is a part of the greater community. Another important aspect to consider is the historical significance, especially with Vancouver schools that are often nearly a century old. I would be pretty pissed if I found out my old elementary or high schools were closing down. Closing down an old school means killing its tradition and legacy.

    Age gives a school character and I know that's important to me and a lot of other people (sense of school spirit, tone, atmosphere etc...basically characteristics that define a learning environment).
     
  5. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    And I wonder how they came up with the 42% statistic. Is it based on some arbitrarily defined ideal capacity or is it based on historical enrolment numbers? Teachers, BCTF and schools complain about large class sizes all the time, so what's with the discrepancy?

    Yes I'm aware that BCTF likes to exaggerate things, but they can't be way off the mark.
     
  6. ema

    ema Full Member

    Oh, yennoe what? My elementary is closing but it was only 42% enrolled...it made no sense to keep the school. I wish they would make it into a museum or something but chances are it'll get sold to greedy people to build condos etc.
     
  7. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    Oh that sucks, which school? I do wish I knew the details of how they got that statistic. Depending on who came up with it and what kind of bias the organization/individual has it can be very debatable.
     
  8. ema

    ema Full Member

    I know but I also know for a fact that my elementary school's cachement area has lack of elementary school kids. Because many people who live in that area tend to be young couples with no kids yet.
    The five schools are:
    • Champlain Heights Annex (81 per cent enrollment)
    • McBride Annex (50 per cent enrollment)
    • Sir Guy Carleton Elementary (64 per cent enrollment)
    • Sir William Macdonald Elementary (24 per cent enrollment)
    • Queen Alexandra Elementary (69 per cent enrollment)
     
  9. milquetoast

    milquetoast Senior Member

    I wonder how much of the low enrolment stems from people lying about where they live to get into "better schools". A lot of parents borrow utility bills from relatives or friends so their kids can go to what they perceive as nicer schools in other cachement areas.

    The amount that they predicted that the closures would save is hardly worth the trouble and public outcry. What happens when enrolment decides to increase? Re-opening schools would probably cost more than what they saved. I like the idea of using the facilities for community, fine arts and child care programs.

     

Share This Page