The CAQ government has decided to close Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds and hand it over to a French school board.

Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge is using his executive power under the Education Act to transfer the school from the Lester B. Pearson School Board to the Commission Scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys, and do so this summer.

Riverdale High School has room for about 950 students, and currently has about 450 pupils enrolled. Those students will have to be transferred to other schools at the end of this school year.

“It's a very sad day for them,” said Heidi Yetman, president of the Pearson Teachers’ Union. “Shock more than anything else. I think these teachers knew down the road it was going to eventually happen because the numbers have been diminishing, but today they felt like bulldozers.”

Meanwhile the CSMB added 2,500 new students in 2018, many of them refugees and immigrants.

About 80 of those students have been attending 'welcome to French' classes at Riverdale High School in space rented to the Marguerite Bourgeoys board.

“I think it's normal to react, but I think when you see the big picture, you see that the best for most of the students, the right to education in a good context, is really important,” said Roberge.

Demands for another plan

The Quebec English School Boards Association is asking the provincial government to come up with another plan to help students.

On Monday, QESBA and the LBPSB issued statements against the move.

“This is a gross infringement on local autonomy and on the powers of duly elected school board commissioners to manage and control our school system and on our Constitutional Rights as a minority language community. It is unacceptable to us,” said QESBA President Dan Lamoureux in the statement.

The LBPSB said that it is more than willing to come up with options other than transferring an entire school to another board.

The board listed four other possible options, including:

  • granting permission to immigrants, and children of immigrants, to attend English-language schools
  • leasing classroom space to the CSMB
  • subdividing buildings into French and English schools
  • a joint project involving French and English students

The Lester B. Pearson board closed three schools in recent years, and those buildings were ceded to the Marguerite Bourgeoys board.

“Despite the necessity of such a measure on the part of the ministry we will make this work in the best possible way as services to our students are paramount in our mind,” said LBPSB chairperson Noel Burke.

Under Bill 101 only children of those who had the majority of their education in English in Canada are allowed to attend English-language public schools in Quebec, although the Ministry of Education can choose to grant permission to any student to study in English.

In December the Ministry of Education sent a notice that it would not allow any of the new students to study in English.

Instead it said it would invoke Article 477.1 of the Education Act to seize the school and transfer it to another board.

Cold-hearted decision

Greg Kelley, Liberal critic for relations with English-speaking Quebecers calls it a "cold-hearted decision."

“It sends a clear sign he has no interest in consulting with English-speaking community,” he said. “In this instance, there is a school that's been here since 1960s. It's very important for the English-speaking community. Here he's going ahead to use a discretionary power, which honestly is not used often – and is really just because he did it so to avoid any public consultation with the parents.”