Anglophone East superintendent pleased 2 of 9 new schools it sought are approved
District asking for 27 more portable classrooms for 2024 at overcrowded schools
"Excitement, relief, euphoria," Randolph MacLean said in an interview Wednesday. "Uncertainty, because now the real work begins."
MacLean was reacting to the provincial capital budget released Tuesday which included $10.2 million to start work on four schools in Moncton, Fredericton, Dieppe and Salisbury.
The schools in Dieppe and Salisbury are for Anglophone East, while the school in Moncton is an expansion of Francophone South's École Saint-Henri.
The new schools are only expected to open in about five years.
MacLean said earlier this year that Anglophone East would need nine more schools to address "exponential" enrolment growth.
"Is it enough? Of the nine we requested [it] is two of the nine," MacLean said Wednesday, saying more schools will likely be requested again in the spring.
A row of portable classrooms outside Shediac Cape School on Aug. 31. (Pierre Fournier/CBC)
"We will still see enrolment pressures in the north, enrolment pressures in the centre part of the city, enrolment pressures in other areas that we will still require modular classrooms," MacLean said.
A new middle school set to open in Moncton's west end will ease some of the pressure as will a new Shediac Cape K-12 school in about four years, MacLean said.
The district had 19,317 students as of last week, up from 16,776 in September 2021. It expects enrolment to top 22,000 students within four years. That's led to using non-teaching spaces like staff rooms and libraries as classrooms.
The district added 17 more portable classrooms to the 65 it already had at various overcrowded schools.
MacLean said they have already asked for 27 more for next fall.
Michel Côté, chair of the Francophone South district education council, says greater spending is needed. (Patrick Lacelle/Radio-Canada)
Michel Côté, chair of the Francophone South district education council, struck a more critical tone Tuesday after the capital budget was announced.
Côté told Radio-Canada that French-speaking communities were ignored and that without more spending there would be greater reliance on portable classrooms.
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold says the former Moncton High School building, which remains vacant, should once again become a school. (Shane Magee/CBC)
"We have accumulated a delay in terms of infrastructure for several years, and we are just continuing this delay, and we will arrive at a certain point where things will no longer be sustainable," Côté said.
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold welcomed the spending announced by the province Tuesday.
"I've certainly heard from many citizens about their concerns around the overcrowding of our schools," Arnold said.
"We can't continue to grow at the rate that we're growing and not reinvest in things like schools, so very happy to see some growth on that, but it doesn't look like it's enough."
Arnold suggested the province should repurchase the former Moncton High School building.
The landmark building on Church Street closed in 2015, and the property was later sold to to Heritage Developments Ltd. for $1 million in 2018. The company intended to convert it to leasable commercial space, but it remains vacant.
"Schools are very, very expensive to build. We know that. And we have a perfectly good — in fact fantastic — school sitting in the heart of our city," Arnold said.
"I think I can speak on behalf of many, many citizens in our community who would so love to see that as a school again in our community."
Earlier this year, the provincial government confirmed it had considered buying back the building. However, it ruled it out given the estimated cost to meet current educational facilities standards.
MacLean said the capital budget also includes money to keep Hillcrest and Bessborough schools in Moncton's west end open, but didn't have the figures at hand during the interview.
The Anglophone East district education council voted to keep those schools open earlier this year once a new school opens next year.
That new school, which has yet to be named, was originally planned for kindergarten to Grade 8 but will instead be a middle school.
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Anglophone East council votes to sue N.B. over school gender-identity policy
If filed separately, this lawsuit would be second to be launched over Policy 713
Hadeel Ibrahim · CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2023 4:47 PM AST
Anglophone East council votes to sue N.B. over school gender-identity policy
If filed separately, this lawsuit would be second to be launched over Policy 713
The Anglophone East district education council has unanimously voted to start a legal charter challenge against New Brunswick's school pronoun policy.
In June, Education Minister Bill Hogan changed Policy 713 to require parental consent before school staff can use a child's chosen name and pronoun, if they're under 16.
Hogan has said parents have a right to decide what pronoun is best for their children and should be able to control what name and pronoun teachers and staff use informally, even if it's against the child's wishes.
On Tuesday, Dominic Vautour, a member of the Anglophone East council, called the policy changes discriminatory and said they have had "catastrophic consequences to our students."
"Since these changes were announced, we heard from our students how much harm, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty this is causing to our LGBTQ community," he said.
"Additionally, it's also causing stress, anxiety and fear to our staff, who are scared to misstep and find themselves in a precarious situation personally and professionally."
The council voted unanimously to start working immediately on a charter challenge of Policy 713, and to seek a "stay of Policy 713 with all haste."
Vautour said he hopes other district education councils join in, but "this can't wait any longer."
Member Kristin Cavoukian said the Anglophone East council has "a duty to protect our students."
"When there is a threat to some of us, it becomes a job for all of us," she said.
"The thing to do is to grab the bull by the horns and do what needs to be done to keep others safe."
Different francophone and anglophone district education councils have sought legal opinions about the policy.
They also have all created their own policies and guidelines about gender identity, some more extensive than others.
Francophone district councils and Anglophone East have passed policies that say parental consent is not required for name and pronoun changes for students in Grade 6 or above, or for "mature minors" under Grade 6.
Hogan's office has sent "corrective action" letters to Anglophone East and South, and all francophone districts, telling councils their policies are contrary to the provincial policy and therefore against the rules.
The policies in francophone districts and Anglophone East remain unchanged.
The Anglophone East council meeting did not discuss legal strategy aside from saying it will focus on the right to equality.
One lawsuit already in motion
Hogan's new policy is already the subject of one lawsuit, filed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and supported by several LGBTQ-advocacy organizations and the New Brunswick Teachers' Federation.
That lawsuit alleges the policy violates children's charter and human rights, and teachers' freedom of expression.
Justice Robert Dysart is writing a decision about whether to grant the civil liberties group public-interest standing so it can proceed with the lawsuit.
Education Minister Bill Hogan has said the new policy maintains 'parent involvement in their child's education.' (Mikael Mayer/Radio-Canada)
In a response to a request for an interview, a spokesperson for the Education Department said there would be no comment because the matter is before the courts.
The province hasn't filed a statement of defence in that case.
The changes to Policy 713 have drawn criticism from several groups, including the New Brunswick Association of School Psychologists, which said allowing parents a veto over their children's pronouns could cause mental and physical harm.
The New Brunswick Medical Society has said the changes could harm youth "who are exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity as part of their normal development."
The union representing school psychologists and the teachers' union have both filed separate grievances against the changes.
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