The capacity target required for Vancouver schools to receive long-awaited seismic upgrading is being dropped, but it’s unclear whether that will take schools off the chopping block.

At a news conference Tuesday, Education Minister Mike Bernier said the BC Liberal government has decided to move away from its mandate of 95 per cent enrolment, saying that the targets were set in the early 2000s.

Funding decisions will instead be based "on a case-by-case basis," taking into account each school's projected capacity. He did not say how much the enrolment rates of underutilized buildings need to increase to qualify, or provide a specific timeline.

He told reporters that the Vancouver School Board, which is facing the difficult decision to potentially close nearly a dozen schools, is not "off the hook," as it still has 10,000 empty spaces.

"We are funding the new International Village school because of the growing student population in the area," Bernier said in a statement.

"Even though across Vancouver there are thousands of empty seats, 10 per cent fewer students, and utilization targets in the 80 per cent to 85 per cent range – well below the [target]."

The statement pointed to districts like North Vancouver, Delta and Victoria, which Bernier described as having made "incredible progress" getting schools upgraded, and balancing funding by making sure there is "the right amount of space for the right number of students."

Vancouver was the only district in the province that had a funding goal for seismic upgrades based on capacity, he said. But there is $200 million in seismic upgrades underway in the city, he said.

"To reflect this reality of funding upgrades when a solid case is brought forward, we will remove the 95 per cent goal if the Vancouver School Board agrees."

However, how much of that money will be spent in the city depends on the VSB's long-range facilities plan. Bernier said the board needs to make sound financial decisions, and added that Vancouver's is the only public board that hasn't made school closures in recent years.

"School districts will still need to justify their applications to build new schools or expand existing ones," Bernier said.

"Taxpayers expect to be investing in the right number of schools for the actual number of students."

But the province's education critic said the dropped policy has already done significant damage to B.C.'s schools.

"This 95 per cent utilization rule has been driving school closures all across British Columbia. It's a ridiculous, arbitrary policy, it always was," NDP MLA Rob Fleming said.

He said the policy was "concocted as a way to get around a broken promise" for seismic upgrades, then announced it was being "unceremoniously dumped" years later.

Although he called the move a "tremendous victory for parents, advocates, even for the official Opposition," he said it still won't help students in schools significantly overcapacity, like Surrey.

He said the announcement was "forced on government," and suggested it was a ploy to gain votes for the upcoming election.

"Now it's just about chronic underfunding in British Columbia. That's the big question."

The VSB began looking for which of its 18 secondary and 91 elementary schools it could close to address a gap in its budget, and to prioritize which buildings had enough students to justify costly seismic upgrades. If students were moved from lower-capacity schools to other buildings, the board could skip the upgrades on those sparsely attended.

At the time, the board published a list of 12 possibilities, but one of them (Britannia Secondary School) has since been removed from the list.

Although the seismic upgrade funding roadblock has been removed, the VSB is still facing financial issues, so the announcement is not a guarantee that there will be no closures.

The board's chair, Mike Lombardi, has been a long-time advocate of more funding for the city. At a protest staged by parents at the beginning of the school year, Lombardi said the response from community members trying to prevent closures has been "overwhelming."

The board will meet next week to discuss initial reports on the schools on the shortlist, then decide which schools should be put on a consultation list.

There will then be a consultation period, with the final decisions made on Dec. 12.

The schools on the shortlist are:

  • Queen Elizabeth Annex – K-3 students would be accommodated at Queen Elizabeth Elementary
  • Champlain Heights Annex – K-3 students would be accommodated at Champlain Heights Elementary
  • Tecumseh Annex – K-3 students would be accommodated at Tecumseh Elementary
  • Sir Richard McBride Annex – K-3 students would be accommodated at McBride Elementary
  • Admiral Seymour Elementary – students would be accommodated at Strathcona School, but not until 2018
  • Graham Bruce Elementary – students would be accommodated at Grandview Elementary and Collingwood Neighbourhood School
  • Sir Guy Carleton Elementary – students would be accommodated at Cunningham Elementary and Dr. H.N. MacCorkindale Elementary
  • Queen Alexandra Elementary – students would be accommodated at Grandview Elementary and Florence Nightingale Elementary
  • Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary – students would be accommodated at Walter Moberly School
  • Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary – students would be accommodated at Begbie Elementary
  • Gladstone Secondary – students would be accommodated at Windermere Secondary, Vancouver Technical Secondary, John Oliver Secondary and Tupper Secondary