Time running out for EMSB to find a way to save three schools
English board has until Monday to work out a deal with French school board in need of space
A deadline looms tomorrow for the English Montreal School Board to cut a deal with an overcrowded French school board desperate for extra classrooms.
The Quebec government has given the EMSB and the Pointe-de-l'île school board until then to work out a space-sharing arrangement.
If no deal is reached, the province has warned it will forcibly transfer three schools — General Vanier Elementary School, Gerald McShane Elementary School, and John Paul Junior High School — from the EMSB to Pointe-de-l'île.
The EMSB has offered to share about 82 classrooms with Pointe-de-l'île. But officials said they have received little indication the French board is interested in the offer.
"As of the last board meeting, we were clearly at a standstill with them," Mike Cohen, a spokesperson for the EMSB, said Sunday.
"We made the offers and right now they didn't seem to be too keen on them."
Legal action also being considered
Cohen also said that imposing a transfer could cause havoc for the EMSB. The government wants the added French classrooms available by the start of the school year.
But the transfer process normally takes 18 months, Cohen said. Some EMSB commissioners have raised the possibility of legal action to block a forcible transfer.
"If the transfer does go through, I don't think we have too much choice but to go to court," said Francesca Pitruzzello, who chairs the governing board of Gerald McShane.
"At that point, we have nothing to lose, so might as well. But it's not the ideal situation."
A spokesperson for Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said he wouldn't comment until the deadline has passed.
With files from Matt D'Amours