Time running out for EMSB to find a way to save three schools

A deadline looms tomorrow for the English Montreal School Board to cut a deal with an overcrowdedFrench school board desperate for extra classrooms.

The Quebec government has given the EMSB andthe Pointe-de-l'le school board until then to work out a space-sharing arrangement.

If no deal is reached, the province has warned it will forcibly transfer three schoolsGeneral Vanier Elementary School, Gerald McShane Elementary School, and John Paul Junior High School from the EMSB toPointe-de-l'le.

The EMSB has offered to share about 82 classrooms withPointe-de-l'le. But officials said they have received little indication the French board is interested in the offer.

"As of the last board meeting, we were clearly at a standstill with them,"Mike Cohen, a spokesperson for the EMSB, said Sunday.

"We made the offersand right nowthey didn't seem to be too keen on them."

Legal action also being considered

Cohen also said that imposing a transfer could cause havoc for the EMSB. The government wants the added French classrooms available by the start of the school year.

But the transfer process normally takes 18 months, Cohen said.Some EMSB commissioners have raised the possibility of legal action to block a forcible transfer.

"If the transfer does go through, I don't think we have too much choice but to go to court," said Francesca Pitruzzello, who chairs thegoverning board ofGerald McShane.

"At that point, we have nothing to lose, so might as well. But it's not the ideal situation."

A spokesperson for Education Minister Jean-Franois Roberge said he wouldn't comment until the deadline has passed.