French school board threatens court action against N.L. government

The French school board In Newfoundland and Labrador is threatening a constitutional challenge if it doesn't see more classroom space.

The Conseil Scolaire Francophone Provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador says it wants additional space in St. John's by early January, or it will prepare a lawsuit against the provincial government.

The school board says its school on Ridge Road, l'École des Grands-Vents, is overcrowded. It was built for 100 students and the district now says there's 180 attending class between kindergarten and Grade 12.

"Right now we have high school kids in the corridor," says Ali Chaisson, the elected board president. 

"We have a student population that has certainly overgrown, for many years now, the existing school on Ridge Road"

Chaisson says he'd accept a short term solution in St. John's, but the long-term goal is a new school, somewhere "west."

"Whether it's Mount Pearl, in the future Galway or C.B.S. That's for other people to decide," said Chaisson.

He adds, "As a short term solution, we are trying to identify a space that would be occupied as early as September 2017." 

No space 

Chaisson says it's almost impossible for his district to keep students until graduation.

"What usually happens when the kids hit Grades 7, 8 or 9, around there, they have a tendency to leave the school for other anglophone schools," he says.

It's a fundamental disservice to students that I can't offer them the same level of programming that an anglophone school can offer- Ali Chaisson,  Francophone school board president

Chaisson says the French education system in Newfoundland and Labrador is "grotesquely underfunded" and the current formula with the provincial government is a long standing issue for the board.

He said change is needed to stop the flow of French students to Anglophone schools.

"We haven't been able to structure programming in [high school] in science, and math programs," said Chaisson.

"It's a fundamental disservice to students that I can't offer them the same level of programming that an anglophone school can offer."

Line in the sand

The board says it wants "keys in our hands" for existing school space in St. John's by January — or it will start court action.

"Under article 23 of the Charter of Rights, this is a slam dunk. A new school in St. John's is a slam dunk," said Chaisson.

Section 23 of the charter contains guarantees for minority-language education in any Canadian province.

"We've never wanted to go down that road. As a board we've always taken the high road."

Government responds

In a statement, the Department of Education said the French school board has expressed interest in Holy Cross Junior High in St. John's.

The department says it'll discuss things further with the English School District and the appropriate denominational authority.  A meeting is planned in late November.