As part of its long range facilities planning, VSB staff have submitted detailed reports to the Board of Trustees about the schools on the preliminary list that might be considered for closure before the start of the 2017-18 school year. The trustees will now review these reports, and at a board meeting on September 26, will decide whether some or any of the schools on the preliminary list should be considered for closure.

The list of 12 schools was presented to the Board in June 2016, and these administrative reports, along with an overview report titled "Strategic Report: Potential School Closures," have been submitted as required by VSB policy and conforming to the School Act. If the Board decides to consider those schools for closure, consultation with affected school communities would commence in October and continue through November. In December trustees will decide whether any schools will be closed.

Following the submission of the Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP), where the public provided extensive input on priorities for school facilities, VSB's facilities planners reviewed all 110 VSB schools based on the factors for consideration identified in the LRFP. Then, in collaboration with district educators, they examined the impact of a closure on educational programs, student needs and learning. The preliminary list of schools that might be considered for closure was the result of that process.

Staff has now developed reports, which will provide trustees, the school community, and the public with detailed information to support discussion, consultation, and decision making. These administrative reports include:

• Explanation of the process for identification of the school for inclusion on the preliminary list
• Information about the school being considered for closure and the school(s) that would receive students, including: location; enrolment history and projections; operating capacity and utilization; vulnerability of current school population; geographical considerations; building condition; seismic rating; school site considerations; potential to use the school for temporary accommodation; and other details
• Review and assessment of LRFP school closure implementation considerations
• Implication of closing that school for the seismic mitigation program
• Financial implications of closing that school
• Implementation considerations if that school is closed

"We will closely review these administrative reports to better understand the situation at each of the schools," said Mike Lombardi, Chair of the Vancouver School Board. "No decisions have been made yet. After looking at all the information in these detailed reports, trustees will decide whether to proceed with any potential closures and, if so, begin significant consultation with affected communities in October and November before making any decisions."

Members of the public can learn more about VSB long range facilities planning and public consultations related to school closures at engage.vsb.bc.ca.

­- 30 -

For media inquiries contact: communications@vsb.bc.ca

Fact Sheet - VSB costs related to maintenance

• The average age of VSB schools is 73 years, with 50 schools older than 80 years.
• Maintenance has been deferred for many years on VSB schools, leaving more than $700 million in outstanding maintenance costs for major building components such as roofs, fire alarm systems, heating systems, flooring, interior finishes, plumbing, lighting and exterior windows.
• The average cost of deferred maintenance on VSB schools is nearly equal to half the cost of building a new replacement school.
• In Vancouver 21 schools have been seismically upgraded so far and 68 require mitigation work, including four currently in construction, four in design development, two pending approval, 21 approved for feasibility studies and 37 that have not received approval to begin a feasibility study.
• $62.5 million - 12.6% of VSB's operating budget - goes on building operations and maintenance.
• Among large BC school districts, Vancouver spends the most, more than $1,100 per student, on operations and maintenance.
• Including staff, utilities, maintenance and custodial supply costs, each year the costs for running district facilities are, on average, $248,000 for an annex, $632,000 for an elementary school and $1,955,000 for a secondary school.
• At this point, no decisions on closure have been made. If trustees decided to close a school, it would provide one-time savings in deferred maintenance costs of, on average, $1.9 million per annex, $3.9 million per elementary, and $16.9 million per secondary school.
• If trustees decided to close a school, it would avoid one-time seismic upgrading costs of $8-16 million for an elementary school and $30-60 million for a secondary school.

FAQs on Administrative Reports