EMSB to take Quebec to court over school transfers, threat to abolish boards

The English Montreal School Board is taking theQuebec governmentto court over itsforced school transfers and its plan to do away with school boards.

EMSB chairAngela Mancini said the board is fighting for the rights of all English school boards across the province.

"School boards, and the multi-faceted role that they play, [are] extremely important for our minority community," she said at a news conference Tuesday.

The boardplans to use $1.3 million in surplus money from its international student programto help pay for the legal fees, which could total several million dollars.

She is hoping other English school boards andrepresentatives from the English-speaking community pitch in.

In July, a Quebec Superior Court justice rejected an injunction filed by the EMSB aimed at halting the transfer of two English schools to the CSPI, a French-language board.

That challenge, however, still hasn't been heard on its merits by the Quebec Superior Court, even though the school transfer already took place.

The EMSB plans to file a separate lawsuit arguing that doing away with English school boards would be a violation of minority rights underthe CanadianCharterof Rights and Freedoms.

The Coalition Avenir Qubecgovernment is planning to table legislation this fall that would replace the province's school boards with regional service centres.Abolishing school boardswas a campaign promise in the last election.

The EMSB says doing so would "lessen the quality of English education."

Education Ministry defends position

In a statement, a spokesperson for Quebec Education Minister Jean-Franois Robergemaintains the ministry's position when it comes to transferring the two schools.

Spokesperson Francis Bouchard said that whilethe English schools lacked students, the French board was short on space.

"The right to education of hundreds of students was compromised," he said.

Bouchard said the threat of legal action means the ministry will not comment further.