OneCity's School Board Team Announces Better Schools: A Plan to Harness the Power of the VSB to Build More Childcare, Community Centres, and Homes

OneCity's School Board Team Announces Better Schools: A Plan to Harness the Power of the VSB to Build More Childcare, Community Centres, and Homes 

The plan keeps Kingsgate Mall and Britannia in public hands and rebuilds them as community hubs with new schools, public childcare, a Mount Pleasant pool, and affordable housing.

VANCOUVER (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ Territories) – The OneCity School Board Team – Krista Sigurdson, Rory Brown, Sherry Breshears, Christopher Lee 李基鵬, and Steve Cardwell – today released Better Schools, the party's plan to use the land the Vancouver School Board already owns to build the childcare, community centres, and homes this city has been waiting decades for.

OneCity is the only team this election with a plan to give our public schools the respect they deserve and the opportunity to be the engine of building new community infrastructure, and to do it all without selling a single square foot of public land.

"The current School Board Trustees seem to have no interest in governing our public school system for the greater good," said Steve Cardwell, OneCity Candidate for School Board. "I spent five years as Superintendent of this district. I know what the Vancouver School Board can do when trustees are serious about the job. We can build more affordable homes, public childcare spaces for working families, and do great things with Kingsgate and Britannia that truly serve the community."

OneCity has a plan to harness the power of the Vancouver School Board and transform how our city expands childcare, invests in our students and staff, and leverages the potential of the VSB’s public land, for the public good. 

The City and Vancouver School Board own some of the most valuable land in the region, and we have an opportunity to build integrated hubs of jobs, education, housing, and community services that will transform their communities. We will: 

Turn Kingsgate into a Community Hub – Kingsgate Mall is on some of the most valuable land in the province. But it has sat aging and underutilized for years as homes, good jobs, and transit are built around it. We can dream big and re-imagine how Kingsgate can be the heart of the city. 

The OneCity School Board Team will keep the Kingsgate land in public ownership and transform the site into a bustling Community Commons in partnership with Host Nations and the OneCity Park Board and Council teams to create: 

• A New Public School – We will build a badly-needed new school with a vertical flex space for the growing neighbourhood. 

• A New Community Centre – We will include community spaces where all generations of neighbours can learn and play. 

• Complete Services – Co-locate a complete set of public services so Kingsgate can be a community hub for a new community centre, licensed public, non-profit and Indigenous childcare, including before- and after-school care. 

• Affordable Rental Homes – Utilize Kingsgate’s vertical space to build more affordable and subsidized rental housing in a neighbourhood that needs it. 

• A New Pool – We will make good on the City’s promise to build a pool in Mount Pleasant. We won’t kick the can down the road any more.

And our School Board Team won’t stop at Kingsgate. We will also lead the charge to reimagine Britannia to become a hub of community infrastructure we call: One Britannia. 

One Britannia – We will enact a plan with City Council, Park Board, and other public and community partners to rebuild the entire 18 acre Britannia site as one integrated public campus with:

• Rebuilt Elementary & Secondary Schools – We will build the new schools East Van needs so generations of young people for the next 50 years can learn and play in the safe, welcoming, and beautiful schools they deserve. 

• Childcare for Working Families – Our plan will include public childcare spaces that are low-cost and accessible to regular families and at more times to fit your busy schedules. 

• A New Community Centre & Ice Rink – We will deliver more ice time and a renewed community centre complete with ample fitness and recreation spaces for everyone to enjoy and recreate. 

• Food Security & Social Development Programs – We will deliver, in partnership with other levels of government and community partners, programming that works to meet the pressing needs of community members. That means access to free and low-cost food options and social development programming will be part of any One Britannia plan. 

• Affordable Housing – We will always prioritize building non-profit housing on public lands. One Britannia is no exception. Our plan will include plans to build new non-profit, permanently affordable homes for workers and families. 

Schools are the place where young Vancouverites grow and learn, and OneCity will make sure that everyone gets access to the best of Vancouver’s schools, regardless of their neighbourhood.

"We will rebuild and reimagine Britannia and Kingsgate as the complete community hubs they need to be,” said OneCity School Board Candidate Sherry Breshears. "Neighbours in East Van and Mount Pleasant have been waiting too long, and myself and my colleagues running for School Board are sick of waiting too. We’ll get these projects done, for and with the communities they’ll be built to serve."

We’ll make Vancouver’s public schools the centrepiece of a thriving public childcare system, feed our kids, and keep our public lands public – and accessible to play on.  

• Childcare for All – OneCity will place neighbourhood schools at the centre of a coordinated public and non-profit childcare system, with VSB-led pilots and planning.

• Universal, Nutritious Meals – OneCity will build a universal, nutritious school food program so that every VSB student, regardless of financial background, can access healthy food during the school day.

• Protected School Lands – OneCity will integrate school planning with neighbourhood growth, protect school lands for future generations, and keep school grounds available for responsible public use outside school hours. 

Schools must be our city’s place of learning, care, and growth for every family – no matter where they live or how much money they make. The OneCity School Board Team will deliver: 

• Transparent & Accountable Governance at the Board Table – We will restore meaningful public participation, transparency, and democratic accountability at the VSB. We’ll open meetings to the public, provide meaningful opportunities for input like oral question and comment periods at meetings, and publish information early and publicly. 

• Protected School Programs – OneCity will reverse recent cuts, establish minimum service standards, and protect arts, music, physical education and school libraries as core to public education, not discretionary programs that disappear when budgets tighten. 

• Indigenous Student Success Through Language & Culture– OneCity will work in respectful partnership with the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) to strengthen Indigenous language learning, Indigenous-led land-based education, culturally safe student supports, and accountability for Indigenous student success. 

• Staffed & Funded Supports for Kids with Disabilities – OneCity will target provincial advocacy to improve staffing, funding allocation, and professional development for educators with experience supporting students with disabilities. 

• Expanded Mental Health & Substance Use Prevention – OneCity will expand school-based mental health and substance use services, strengthen prevention and early-intervention programs, and improve partnerships with families, health providers, and community organizations through a district-wide strategy.

• A Nuanced and Cautious Approach to AI in Schools – OneCity will adopt a learner-centered harm reduction approach to AI that recognizes the opportunities and true risks of using AI at a young age. We commit to new safeguards, AI literacy education, privacy protections and age appropriate access limits to AI in schools. Along with this, we’ll seek to limit AI chatbot access to only Grades 10-12, while ensuring that human relationships and supervision are available at all times. 

"Public education is the foundation of any great city," said Krista Sigurdson, OneCity School Board Candidate. "I’m proud to have chaired my local PAC, and I know from that experience how hard families and staff across our district work to meet the needs of students with the limited resources they have. With five OneCity School Trustees, we will open our doors to you and open doors to opportunity for you – not shut you down or tell you that your family doesn’t matter."

Media Contact:
Giovanna Orecchio, Campaign Director
media@onecityvancouver.ca

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