No decision yet on new building for overcrowded Drummondville English school, minister says

Staff and students at Drummondville's only English elementary school will have to wait until June to find out if the province will pay for a bigger school to accommodate the steady growth in enrolment.

Quebec Education Minister Sébastien Proulx is promising more money is coming for school renovations and expansions, but he can't say if any of it will be allocated to the overcrowded Drummondville Elementary School.

He said he, too, is waiting to see what's in the budget, expected to be tabled in March.

"I'll be able to provide answers to the school board at that time," he told CBC.

"I know there are pressing needs," Proulx told CBC, but he said his ministry is dealing with several requests for renovations or expansions at the moment, from both English and French school boards. 

​Drummondville Elementary has seen its student population steadily increase since it opened in 1998 with fewer than 100 students. It's now running at full capacity, with an enrolment expected to top 250 next September.

• Drummondville's only English elementary school full to bursting, but no new building in sight​
• Faced with overcrowding, French school board looks to English counterpart for help

Many of the students are francophones whose parents are eager to have them become fluent in English, and who have English eligibility certificates by virtue of their parents having done some of their primary schooling in English in Canada.

"Everyone knows that it's a good step for your future," said Sylvie Faucher, whose two sons attend Drummondville Elementary. She's worried that if the school doesn't get more space, it will have to eventually turn away applicants.

Matter of 'simple equity' says school board

The Eastern Townships School Board has made requests for expansion money for the Drummondville school for the past four years, but so far, they've gone nowhere.

Chair Michael Murray said the initial request was for extra square footage. Since 2012, enrolment has increased by 25 per cent, and Murray said now the board is asking for a brand new building.

The school — built in the 1950s — has already had to split its cafeteria in two, to create more classrooms, and has no more physical space to accommodate any further growth in the number of students.

"Every aspect of the school is inadequate," said Murray.

Murray said he hasn't heard from the Ministry of Education since sending in this latest request.

"We feel it is urgent that the situation be addressed so that people who choose to attend an English school aren't penalized, relative to those who attend French schools," he said. 

Murray said the city of Drummondville is growing, and two news French schools have been built in recent years.  

"It's simple equity that we're asking for," he said, "a situation where our facilities are as adequate, as sufficient for good modern pedagogy as those of our francophone counterparts."

A spokesperson for Kathleen Weil, the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, said her ministry cannot directly intervene in the Ministry of Education's files.

But Weil's office said her mission is to represent the needs of the English-speaking population in the government's policy making.

• Kathleen Weil's task is to mend disconnect between government and Anglo communities

Weil said she had the opportunity to speak with Murray as well as Sébastien Proulx about Drummondville Elementary School.

"I will continue to follow the file closely," said Weil in a written statement.