The setbacks of the Sophie-Barat secondary school, which is in danger of collapsing after years of neglect, are beginning to weigh heavily on the morale of teachers, parents and students. A year after Quebec’s commitment to invest $164.5 million to renovate and expand this heritage building in northern Montreal, this school project — the most ambitious in Quebec — is slow to get started.
This public school, one of the most reputable in Montreal, is going through a crisis of confidence. Teachers have decided to change schools. Others are thinking about their future. The director and three of his assistants went to work elsewhere. And the teachers who sat on the school board slammed the door of this body because of “irreconcilable differences of opinion”.
According to our sources, the staff, the new management and the students are showing extraordinary resilience in difficult circumstances: in the midst of a pandemic, a few days before the start of the school year in August 2020, a wing of the main building which was in danger of collapsing was urgently closed. The cafeteria, the library, classrooms and the teachers’ quarters were condemned.
Metal gratings surround large sections of the building to prevent pieces of siding from falling on passers-by. A marquee, rented at a cost of $240,000 per year, was erected on the site to house the cafeteria. More than 500 students must now attend a former primary school located in the neighboring district, five kilometers from their neighborhood school.
The annex of the Sophie-Barat school, located 400 meters from the main pavilion, also requires renovations. And there is not enough space for the 1,775 students and 115 staff members spread over the school’s three pavilions.
“A big heartache”
“You have to believe in it, at our school, you have to have faith so that young people can embark on our social project. I don’t believe it anymore,” says Nathalie Lavigueur, a French teacher since 1995 at the Sophie-Barat school.
With a heavy heart, she asked to be transferred to another school starting next September. She needs a change of scenery to preserve her mental health and keep her passion for the job. “It’s like a big heartbreak. Sophie-Barat and I were like an old dysfunctional couple, ”says this teacher, who had her school “tattooed on her heart”.
At 50, Nathalie Lavigueur was convinced that she would end her career at Sophie-Barat. Uncertainty and difficult teaching conditions got the better of his iron will. She sees the future of the establishment as a “black hole”. She and her colleagues have no idea of the work schedule. She wonders who is flying the Montreal public school plane.
“Normally, problems, bring some, it does not scare me. But it hurts me to feel such helplessness. I have trouble at my school. We always get half-information, half-truths, half-intentions, half-steps forward. How to get the information? Who is accountable? It kills me,” she says.
Colossal construction site
The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, announced in January 2021 an investment of $100 million for the renovation of the Sophie-Barat school. The bill soared to 164.5 million six months later to not only renovate but also expand the establishment, which has been overflowing for years. It is a site of unprecedented complexity, among other things because it involves heritage buildings.
The Sophie-Barat team, the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) and the other partners (Ministry of Education and Société québécoise des infrastructures) would like the renovation work on the wing of the main pavilion, which was closed start this year, confirms Alain Perron, spokesperson for the CSSDM.
“We are awaiting a decision from the Treasury Board in this regard. The plans and specifications are complete and we hope to be able to launch a call for tenders for the selection of a contractor this spring,” he says.
For the entire project, the CSSDM is preparing to issue calls for tenders to recruit architects, engineers and consulting services who will be responsible for preparing a business case. “The works [de construction et de rénovation] will be spread over several years”, specifies Alain Perron.
At least half a dozen professionals from the service center “devote themselves entirely to the Sophie-Barat school”, explains the spokesperson. This team must in particular determine where the pupils will be educated during the works. A so-called “transitional” school will be built on the grounds of Marie-Anne school, located in the Ahuntsic district.
This vast project represents a puzzle “of which there are pieces missing”, deplores a source who knows the file. She points out that traveling between the school’s multiple pavilions will complicate the task of teachers.
Concerned parents
Parents worry about the safety of their children. In November 2019, a fourth-grade student was injured while handling a sash window in a classroom at Sophie-Barat school. A pane of glass fell on his right hand. The boy had to go to the hospital three times and he was absent for two weeks from his job as a packer in a supermarket, says his father, Renaud Rouverand, with supporting photos and medical report.
“The school and service center officials know that the building is dilapidated, my son was injured, but no one is accountable,” he laments.
The CSSDM maintains that “the security of the premises remains a priority and [que] regular inspections are made to ensure this. Corrections are made quickly when anomalies are detected. »
Improvements
Annick Boulianne, president of the Sophie-Barat school board and mother of a student, was not aware of this incident. She is also impatient with the bureaucratic heaviness to start the renovation work. However, she keeps her spirits up: the school principal has implemented a series of measures to improve services to students and staff, underlines Ms.me Boulianne.
A science room has been set up in one of the pavilions. Equipment has been added for students or teachers: headphones, computers, tablets, musical instruments, board games, furniture, cross-country skis, equipment for a weight room. Additional student supervisors have been hired. Exterior lighting has been improved. A glimmer of hope in a dark time.