Doors of Queen Elizabeth Annex to remain open following VSB vote

Queen Elizabeth Annex elementary school on Vancouver's west side has once again avoided the chopping block after the Vancouver School Board voted against a proposal that would have seen it closed.

After lengthy debates in front of a packed meeting room filled with concerned members of the school community, the proposal failed by a vote of 6-3.

"This board made a commitment to the students not to close schools and it feels like we're ... doing the very things we promised our communities we weren't going to do," trustee Oliver Hanson said before voting against the proposal.

The proposal would have have seen consultations begin on the closure of the school by July 1, 2020. The students from Queen Elizabeth Annex would have joined L'École Jules Quesnel, a few blocks away. 

The annex property would have been leased to the Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la Colombie-Britannique — the province's francophone school board — for use as a French language school. The francophone school board's chair, Marie-Pierre Lavoie, told CBC she was disappointed by the decision but respects the VSB's choice.

Queen Elizabeth Annex offers French immersion from kindergarten through Grade 3 and currently serves 63 students. 

Francophone schools are separate from French immersion programs, where instruction is offered in French for second-language learners.

Vancouver School Board chair Janet Fraser, who voted in favour of the proposal, says it's always a difficult decision to close a school.

"I know that all the trustees gave a lot of thought to this," Fraser told the CBC.

She says the board listened to the concerns of parents who worried the move would impact the unique school community that has evolved at Queen Elizabeth Annex.

"Every school in Vancouver has a proud school community and parents, staff are very passionate about their school," she said about the turnout.

Following last night's vote, Fraser says the board will not re-open the debate around the fate of the school, which has been up for closure three times in the past decade.

In 2008, the VSB considered raising money by selling the property, and in 2016 it narrowly avoided closure when the province relaxed funding requirements for seismic upgrading.

Moving forward, Fraser says the board will focus on developing a strong long-term facilities plan, a requirement of districts by the Ministry of Education that "show how the district manages facilities in an effective, economical and efficient way in support of educational goals," according to the ministry.

The long range facilities plan is still in its draft stage.