Dear Z. Smith:

I am pleased to respond on behalf of Government to your emails sent to my office, as well as to Premier Gordon Campbell regarding General Gordon Elementary School in School District No. 39 (Vancouver). I understand from correspondence received most recently from the General Gordon Parent Advisory Council that you also hold the position of Chair of one of its sub-committees, the Gordon Building Renewal Committee.

General Gordon Elementary School was supported for seismic upgrading in the 2005/06 Seismic Mitigation Program. Subsequently, the Vancouver Board of Education conducted a feasibility study to consider the best approach to undertake this work. This study concluded that the replacement of the school would be more cost effective than seismic upgrading. This finding has been verified by a due diligence review, conducted by independent consultants. I understand the City of Vancouver is also in agreement with this approach.

Government is committed to ensuring that all new capital projects are designed to LEED* Gold standards. At this time, the Ministry has asked the Vancouver Board of Education to identify any cost premiums associated with adopting LEED* Gold for General Gordon Elementary in a Project Agreement that I expect to receive for consideration within the next few weeks.

You express concern about certain spaces in the replacement school. It may interest you to know that the feasibility study recommends that that the 1961 block of the existing school be retained for use as a community room, and that the Montessori pre-school building also be retained. As the Vancouver Board of Education is responsible for designing the school, in accordance with Ministry area standards and within the approved budget, I encourage you to continue working with Board officials in this respect.

For your information, I met recently with Clarence Hansen, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Education, along with school district officials, to discuss how the Board may effectively meet the educational needs of children throughout the Vancouver School District. Ministry staff will continue to work with district officials towards this goal.

Thank you for making your concerns known.

Sincerely,

Shirley Bond
Minister
Deputy Premier

pc: Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier