Education minister condemns 'stubbornness' of EMSB vote to transfer Galileo

CTV Montreal: EMSB vote backfires There are fears of a greater rift between the EMSB and the education minister after a vote to relocate Galileo Adult Education Centre.

Quebec's Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge "strongly condemns the stubbornness" of the English Montreal School Board and its decision to transfer the Galileo Adult Education Centre building to the French school system.

"Our position has not changed," ministry spokesperson Francis Bouchard said on Wednesday.

Members of the EMSB voted Tuesday night 8-3 and one abstention in favour of the transfer, as the board battles it out among themselves as to how best to help the Quebec government find a solution to ease overcrowding in the French system.

Roberge has spoken out against the transfer of the building in Montreal North to the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'île, which is home to several adult education programs, including one for 140 people with special needs.

Roberge has said he feels the adults with special needs are too "vulnerable" to move to another building, and so he has suggested moving anglophone children out of three different schools in eastern Montreal.

"We still consider that the transfer of Galileo School and the relocation of highly vulnerable students attending this school is not a suitable solution to meet the needs of CSPI premises," said Bouchard.

Frank Pettinicchio, parent of a Galileo student, said he was disappointed in the EMSB’s vote.

“They're playing with dynamite. I've told Ortona – in public and in private – I told him last night, you really screwed this up,” he said.

The EMSB has until June 10 to send Roberge an alternative solution, or else he will make the decision himself.