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MNA submits petition to save Riverdale High School from closing this summer

A Liberal MNA in the West Island has submitted a petition to the National Assembly asking the government to reconsider its decision to close an English-language high school.

Education Minister François Roberge announced last month that Riverdale High School will close and its building will be used by the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys.

"The members of the English-speaking community felt they were attacked," said Nelligan MNA Monsef Derraji, who represents much of the borough of Pierrefonds–Roxboro.

"We have to try to come down and find a tenable and human solution for parents and for children."

The petition, first started by students at Riverdale, has over 1,000 signatures with a signing deadline of March 19. It was submitted at the National Assembly earlier this month.

Derraji said he wants to bring attention to the fact that there were no public consultations held on the closure.

That decision has also drawn criticism from others in Montreal's English-speaking community.

"The Education Act says you have a process of consultation … which involves parents and involves the community. And they just decided it's not important to do that this time," said Quebec Community Groups Network president Geoffrey Chambers.

School board didn't do its job, Roberge says

On Monday, Roberge said the Lester B. Pearson School Board was told in November that they had to come up with a solution with the CSMB.

He said the school board should have told those attending Riverdale sooner about the impending closure.

"I'm really surprised that they didn't inform parents and teachers and all the community. They are saying we will have to respect this institution, but in fact they didn't do their job and they didn't inform or explain or consult anybody," he said on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

"Sometimes I have to take tough decisions, and this is one of them."

The CSMB and LPSB have been in talks over the last two years about how to deal with overcrowding in the French-language board.

Listen to Riverdale High School students talk about the closure of their school.

Riverdale and Lindsay Place High School in Pointe-Claire began housing some of those overflow students from the CSMB earlier this year.

Riverdale was at about half its capacity, said Christopher Skeete, the CAQ's parliamentary secretary responsible for relations with the English-speaking community.

Derraji said he's concerned that the quality of education will suffer at the new English school, which is combining students from Riverdale and Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School after the CSMB takes over Riverdale's building this summer.

He wants the government to have a dialogue with parents, students and teachers to see if there is a better solution and to ensure that another school isn't closed in the same fashion.

"This school, it's very important to the community," he said.

He also wants more investment from the government to open new schools to meet the needs of the overcrowded French system.