The population of western Montérégie is exploding, so much so that the Trois-Lacs school service center (CSSTL) has to move students from special programs to allow others to stay in their neighborhood. A situation that is not without arousing discontent.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
At Pincourt, on Île Perrot, the Chêne-Bleu secondary school is overflowing: it has 600 too many students.
The number of students is “increasing, the living environment is no longer adequate,” explains Alexandra Desrochers, spokesperson for the CSSTL. Classes, she illustrates, must be given in the cafeteria. In this context, “the status quo was impossible,” she says.
Two new high schools will open next year in Saint-Zotique and Vaudreuil-Dorion. As they will each have the capacity to accommodate 1,250 young people, the CSS wants “that the students go as much as possible to their neighborhood school”, continues Ms.me Rocks.
As part of this reorganization, the service center has undertaken to move the sports-study and arts-study programs from Chêne-Bleu school to another school in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Cité-des-Jeunes, next year.
It was found that more than half (56%) of the students in these programs come “from outside the sector and follow these programs by choice”, notes the school service center in a letter sent to parents. .
“The students enrolled in the school’s other programs come from Île Perrot. As far as possible, we try to give priority to students whose place of residence is closest to the school premises. This is why we do not want to move these other students to other schools located outside the island, ”we also read.
The president of the Syndicat de l’enseignement des Seigneuries also notes that the number of students in the region is growing at high speed.
“It’s not for nothing that we have two new secondary schools: the three secondary schools on our territory are overcrowded,” says Martine Dumas. In absolute terms, the construction of new schools, “it’s good news”, she adds.
A decision that makes people unhappy
The decision of the school service center to move the sports-studies and arts-studies programs has aroused the ire of parents.
“The program is in danger,” says Jean-Benoît Desjardins, whose son is enrolled in sports studies.
We have to start the process again to get the accreditations, to involve the agents. It’s almost impossible to find a program of the same caliber and as well run in another place.
Jean-Benoît Desjardins, parent of a student enrolled in sports studies
He deplores the opacity of the school service center and believes that the “short deadline” prevents parents from reacting. However, there are “beautiful possible solutions” to accommodate everyone, says Mr. Desjardins.
The CSSTL ensures that its intention is to move the programs, and not to put an end to them. “We believe in these programs,” says Alexandra Desrochers, spokesperson for the CSSTL.
In a letter sent to parents, the CSSTL acknowledges, however, that “it is not possible to confirm [s’il] will obtain recognition for the sports-study and arts-study programs at the Cité-des-Jeunes high school.
Also in Laval
Marie-Belle Ouellet is also outraged by the situation and regrets that students who are motivated by these particular programs may have to abandon them. “We have known for a long time that there are many young [à l’école du Chêne-Bleu] said the mother.
An expansion request for the Chêne-Bleu secondary school was made in 2021 and 2022 to the Ministry of Education, but it is still under study by Quebec.
Population growth is not just affecting high schools in this suburb west of Montreal. In Laval, the school service center has undertaken to redraw its territory to accommodate more than 4,000 students by the start of the next school year.
According to forecasts by the Ministry of Education, there will be 733 more students in CSSTL secondary schools next school year than there were five years ago.