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June 8, 2001
Sale of school shocks rabbi
Francophone institution could oust Hebrew Academy from building.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
Bureaucratic intrigue and constitutional imperatives could combine
to
rob Vancouver Hebrew Academy of its building. Rabbi Mordechai
Loiterman, principal of the school, said he was shocked to learn
that
the building is to be transferred to the francophone school board.
For the past two years, Hebrew Academy has occupied part of an
unused
Vancouver school board elementary school located at 5435 Baillie
St.
The building also currently houses Vancouver Talmud Torah high school
and several school board administration offices. (Talmud Torah is
making alternate arrangements. See story, page 4.)
Loiterman said his board had hoped to negotiate with the school
board
for the purchase of the property, but was told it was not for sale.
Hebrew Academy was invited, however, to discuss long-term leasing
arrangements to take effect after a three-year agreement ends in
the
summer of 2002. Those discussions were cut short recently, when
Loiterman discovered that the building was being sold for use as
a
francophone school.
When he first heard that there were plans to provide space for
a
francophone school, Loiterman said, he was pleased.
"We were not upset about it at all," he said. "We
thought it was welcome news."
Loiterman originally thought that the arrangement would see the
Jewish institution and the French school sharing the facility, which
is too large for either group to occupy fully, at least in the short
term. Hebrew Academy has 124 students at present and the French
school is likely to have about 75, according to Loiterman.
Then, suddenly, just before Pesach, French CBC television showed
up
at the school to film the new facility that had been promised to
the
francophone school board. That was the first Loiterman heard of
a
formal sale of the school.
Later, in communications with the francophone authority, Hebrew
Academy was told they might have to wait until December of this
year
to find out whether there will be room for them in the new
francophone school. If there were no accommodations for Hebrew
Academy at that time, they would have just a few months to secure
a
new location.
Although Hebrew Academy has pledges of cash that could allow them
to
buy property and build a school, Loiterman said there are few
locations that make sense. There is land in Richmond, he noted,
but
about 75 per cent of his students live in Vancouver, some come over
from the North Shore and fewer than one-quarter live in Richmond.
The Canadian Constitution ensures educational rights for French
and
English linguistic minorities "where numbers warrant"
and Loiterman
believes the sale to the French education authority is an effort
by
the province to avoid legal repercussions under that constitutional
guarantee.
But, Loiterman said, there should be room for both groups on the
site. Even if the province wants to give the building to the
francophone school, the property itself is fully four acres and
Hebrew Academy would be happy to build another facility on the site,
still leaving plenty of room for outdoor sports and green space,
he
said.
"If we had one-and-a-half acres, we could build a decent building,"
said the rabbi.
Despite these developments, Loiterman said there is no danger of
the
school foundering. If lobbying the various authorities to be allowed
space at the current location fails, some sort of alternative will
be
found, he insisted.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver school board's secretary-treasurer said
the
future may not be as bleak as it looks. Dave Yuen said that, although
Hebrew Academy's contractual agreement ends June 30, 2002, there
is a
good chance that they may find agreement with the francophone school
board that would allow them more time on the site.
"My understanding is there's a possibility to share the space
for the
following years," he said.
He also defended the board's decision not to sell the property
to the
Jewish school, then reversing its policy and selling it to the French
board. District policy is to preserve assets, even when they are
not
currently needed. The school is in a desirable location, but there
are not currently enough public school elementary students to
populate it. As demographics change, underused schools will be in
demand again. The policy, therefore, is to maintain the property,
usually leasing it out in the short term.
The rule was bent in this case because of the constitutional
guarantee of minority official language education. Although
individual school districts do not have the legal obligation to
fulfil French-language education guarantees, the provincial
government does, said Yuen. Similarly, the Ministry of Education
does
not own school properties, but it has a large amount of influence
on
the local districts that do.
The Vancouver school board prefers not to sell schools, but when
asked by the ministry, they opted to concur, said Yuen.
Nick Ardanaz, CEO of the Francophone school board, was unavailable
for comment by press time.
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