Vancouver School Board looks to sell Dunbar property after annex closure

It appears the land on which Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth School Annex stands could be on its way to being sold.

In a vote Tuesday night, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) deemed the property on Crown Street near West 27th Avenue in the Dunbar neighbourhood as “surplus.”

This designation paves the way for the school board to sell off the property.

VSB Trustee Suzie Mah says she and her counterparts have been put in a difficult position as the city moves to densify neighbouring areas in the coming years, while the school board asserts student numbers are declining.

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“The discrepancy between the school district’s projected enrollment data and the Ministry of Education’s projected enrollment data does not give me confidence that I’m making the right decision when it comes to whether or not our district will need humiliating in the future,” Mah said.

“We have heard over the past couple of months, from the public, about how Metro Vancouver, the City of Vancouver, and UBC have plans to densify the city.

“With the VSB projections only to 2029, how can we be sure that our projection of a decline of 5,000 students is correct?” she said, before voting against the motion.

Queen Elizabeth Annex was voted to close in June of last year after numerous school board attempts to shutter the school since 2008. The school will close its doors for the last time come this June.

FILE – Queen Elizabeth Annex on June 6th, 2022. (CityNews Image)

But the majority of trustees agreed with the move to sell the property, noting that the financial well-being of the school district is critical to the health of all schools.

Trustee Christopher Richardson says it’s not an easy decision, but he was thinking long-term.

“As we are trying to take the crossroad, and trying to finally deal with the safety, the financial well-being of this district, and therefore the welfare of the of its students,” he said.

However, the board will also look at a potential long-term lease — similar to the VSB property on Kingsway and Broadway in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

“As much as it weighs heavily on me to support this bill, I do so, in support of the motion,” Trustee Janet Fraser said.