After first sounding the alarm in October, the province's second largest school board says it is still bursting at the seams and will soon have to violate Quebec's Education Act.
Two months ago the president of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board, Diane Lamarche-Venne, said if the current flood of new enrollments continued and no help was provided by the government, the French school board will not be able to make it to the next school year.
Now Lamarche-Venne told the Journal de Montreal her schools are just a couple months away from being full and will be forced to start turning students away.
She said the CSMB is still seeing 50 new students each week and the board is doing everything it can to find a place for them. The board has passed a resolution stating no new classes will be created in its schools because the resources just aren't there. With 100 schools and centres on the island of Montreal, many of which are on the West Island, it could lead to a student living in Pointe-Claire being forced to fill a spot at a school in Saint-Laurent.
Lamarche-Venne told the newspaper it's time for the CAQ government to step up and help in a way the previous Liberal government did not. Last week the CSMB sent a letter to the new government advising them of the situation and asking for help but has not heard back.
While provincial law requires school boards to offer educational services to all children, Lamarche-Venne said there is also an obligation to offer a quality education.