The Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service center (CSSMB), which has just put a dozen primary and secondary school projects on hold barely two weeks after the provincial elections, has lost more than 2,300 students since 2019. A loss that justifies to mark a time out, according to the organization.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
If in 2019 the CSSMB had 50,220 students at the preschool, primary and secondary levels, it only had 49,900 in 2020. In 2021, this figure then dropped to 48,430, finally reaching 47,880 in 2022. four years, the school population has therefore decreased by 2340 pupils.
It is this “significant drop in the number of students”, spread over several sectors, which prompted the Ministry of Education, in concert with the school service center, to put eight new school projects on hold. The projects that will be put on hold are as follows: an elementary school in Mont-Royal, the expansion of Mont-Royal high school, an elementary school in Saint-Laurent and another in Saint-Laurent Ouest, the expansion of the Berges-de-Lachine, Très-Saint-Sacrement and Eau-Vive schools, as well as the construction of an elementary and secondary school on L’Île-des-Sœurs, as reported Thursday The Press.
According to the CSSMB, these constructions and school expansion operations were first planned due to “hypergrowth” which ultimately never occurred.
There is yet another wave of exodus: families have left the island and there has been a certain exodus towards the private sector.
Kathleen Legault, President of the Montreal Association of School Principals
The Pointe-de-l’Île school service center also experienced a decrease in its number of students this year. Compared to last year, there are 1,135 fewer students, but no school expansion or construction projects have been put on hold.
Last year, it was the Montreal school service center (CSSDM) which was particularly affected by the exodus, recalls Kathleen Legault. However, the trend is reversed this year: so far there has been an increase of 400 students compared to last year. As a result, no expansion or new school construction project has been put on the back burner.
Mount Royal and L’Île-des-Sœurs targeted
The CSSMB affirms that the areas of Mont-Royal and L’Île-des-Sœurs are particularly affected by “these recent demographic changes” on the island of Montreal.
Discussions have been taking place in Mount Royal for more than a year about the arrival of a new French-language elementary school. The administration, struck by a demographic upheaval which brought about a large number of new French-speaking students, had come to the conclusion that it had to have a fourth primary school.
However, in 2022, the elementary schools of Mount Royal “welcomed nearly 100 students less than expected and government projections suggest further declines over the next few years,” writes the assistant director general of the school service center, Danielle Roberge, in a letter to parents. However, as early as June 2019, the Ministry of Education confirmed in its 2019-2029 Quebec Infrastructure Plan “that a new elementary school was going to be built in Mount Royal”.
According to Mme Roberge, “88 groups made up our elementary schools in Mount Royal in 2020”. “In 2021-2022, we had 84 within these establishments. Finally, on September 30, the CSSMB had 81 groups. The pandemic context as well as the economic conditions seem to have hit the Mount Royal sector hard. Even the modular units – mobile classrooms to accommodate more students – “would no longer be necessary in a few years”.
Call for more collaboration
Joined by The Press, the mayor of Mont-Royal, Peter Malouf, said he “understands the decision” of the CSSMB. “Governments should, however, be a little more up-to-date with their statistics, and work more closely with cities,” he added, calling for more “regular” demographic analyzes to avoid back and forth of the kind. .
With the pandemic, with the number of people who have gone to the suburbs, with the cost of residences which have increased significantly, and especially with the new assessment roll, the situation has changed a lot.
Peter Malouf, Mayor of Mount Royal
The day after the announcement to the parents of L’Île-des-Sœurs of the suspension of a school project in their sector, the new deputy for Verdun, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, called for an emergency meeting with the ministry. of Education and the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service centre.
“Access to public education should not be put on hold! With this news, the CAQ is abandoning children who are still taking their classes in office towers, high school students without a school nearby and children who need reception classes. […] »
“Having new school infrastructure is a necessity,” said Mr.me Zaga Mendez, elected under the banner of Québec solidaire.
With the collaboration of Vincent Larin, The Press