MONTREAL -- Declining enrolment at the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) could mean several school closures and mergers in the coming years.
Board commissioners met Tuesday night to discuss the future of Beurling Academy, the only English high school in Montreal’s Verdun borough.
The academy, which opened in 2003 at the site of the former Verdun Catholic High School, boasted over 700 students in 2009. Since then, enrolment has tapered to about 250 students.
The LBPSB says the meeting is part of a bigger plan to reorganize its school network.
The board is currently looking at consolidating several schools in the hopes that the education minister won’t threaten to transfer any of its buildings to the overcrowded French-language boards, like he did with the English Montreal School Board (EMSB).
If closed, students from Beurling Academy could be moved to LaSalle Community Comprehensive High School. However, the board says it is open to ideas on how to keep Beurling Academy, which is currently at a third capacity, from shuttering.
The academy isn’t the only school on the potential chopping block.
Students from St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire, in Montreal’s West Island, could be shuffled in with nearby Lindsay Place High School, which is currently under capacity.
Lakeside Academy in Lachine, Place Cartier Adult Education Centre in Beaconsfield and Sources Adult and Career Centre in Pierrefonds-Roxboro are also under review.
A second town hall is planned for Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire.
Board commissioners say they are hoping to make their decision on the fate of Beurling Academy ahead of a meeting on Dec. 17.
The Major School Change consultation process began last May.
