As quoted in a recent CBC news piece, Vancouver School Board Chair Clarence Hansen appears to suggest that he has been lobbying for a special situation for the General Gordon school community for many months. This is a revision of history which needs to be corrected.

The chair of the Vancouver Board of Education issued a statement Monday night, offering a "clarification" of the decision upon which the three schools were selected. Clarence Hansen said a seismic study determined General Gordon should be replaced because the cost for renovation exceeded the cost of replacement.

He said the school's parent advisory committee took their concerns to the premier's office and advocated for it to be one of the three project schools while getting seismic upgrades at the same time.

"I … wrote to Education Minister Shirley Bond in February 2008 to request parents' concerns be considered in the planning of a replacement school," Hansen said.

Hansen wrote the letter to Minister of Education Shirley Bond on 20 February 2008. Only one paragraph makes mention of the Gordon community needs specifically; Hansen's letter is appropriately focussed on the additional needs which many of Vancouver's schools have over and beyond the standard Ministry policy. Indeed Hansen recognizes this as the current reality in the second paragraph of his letter (attached in full at the end of this post):

Many of the issues raised in this case are also relevant to other proposed and current projects within the district. The Board recognizes the Ministry's policy on such issues but is asking herein for clarification and consideration for change to the current facility area and funding standards. Clarence Hansen, Chair, Vancouver School Board

Parents did not meet with Premier Campbell until many weeks had passed; they did so in frustrated reaction to the lack of flexibility the Vancouver School Board had at its disposal.

Hansen's letter translated into zero action. He did what he was asked to do. Nothing was forthcoming from the Ministry until parents from the Gordon community went direct to their MLA who happens to be the Premier of the province. They were provided with positive feedback from the Premier but no conclusive promises up front.

Meanwhile back at the VSB, Trustees continued to operate with no knowledge of a forthcoming pilot project announcement from the Premier which means that every school under consideration, including Gordon, had to operate within the existing policies Hansen refers to in his February letter to Minister Bond--policies which Gordon and many other school communities have long been fighting against.

The Minister would have us all believe that extensive consultation was taking place between the VSB and the Ministry at the same time that the Vice Chair of the VSB was berating Gordon parents for "blindsiding" the VSB by going direct to the Premier.

This doesn't wash as anyone involved or closely observing the process can attest. Minister Bond and Chair Hansen ought to get their stories straight before going on camera.

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