The Province has introduced legislative amendments to the School Act that will expand access to and improve French-language schools for francophone British Columbians, to ensure students in B.C. have access to high-quality learning environments, in both of Canada’s official languages.
The legislative amendments introduced in Bill 22 are in support of a new, long-term capital strategy for the Conseil scolaire francophone (CSF) school district (SD 93) that will uphold government’s commitments to fulfil the constitutional rights of francophone British Columbians to have their children receive education in the French language.
The capital strategy will explore establishing a capital project office dedicated to the CSF to support the development and delivery of capital projects in communities where new or improved francophone schools are needed. The strategy will also involve investigating opportunities to leverage Crown land for future francophone schools and continuing ongoing efforts to work in partnership with other public boards of education to accommodate current and forecasted CSF enrolment needs.
The School Act amendments in support of the capital strategy will permit the Minister of Education and Child Care to require all public boards of education, including the CSF, to report information on all lands that they own or lease. This will allow the ministry to create an inventory of all lands used for K-12 purposes, to support efforts to meet the CSF’s capital needs over the long term. The amendments also give the Province the ability to designate land held by another board and to transfer that land to the CSF if necessary to fulfil constitutional rights.