www.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\nResidents near \u00c9cole Henri Beaulieu in St. Laurent\u2019s Chameran district have had it with increasing car traffic and noise from the schoolyard. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1993 it had 235 kids; that has more than doubled,\u201d resident Philippe Dorget told The Suburban. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge difference,\u201d he says, adding that he and his neighbours have endured a relentless barrage of screaming from the playground. <\/p>\n
Dorget and his neighbours complained to borough council and the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSMB). \u201cWe hear the school is expanding. The yard is right next to our homes, and for some reason this particular school is very, very loud; louder than other schools.\u201d He said noise levels were recorded at 70-75 decibels\u2014similar to highway traffic and an average factory according to the World Health Organization. Large numbers of kids also mean recesses and activities are staggered, with longer periods of excessive noise levels. <\/p>\n
Dorget said residents have for years endured litter, toys and gravel flung into yards, gardens and sometimes windows, and contend with scores of school parents blocking driveways and using parking spaces on the small residential streets forcing some neighbours to park their cars on their lawns. <\/p>\n
The 50-year resident of the neighbourhood says despite complaints to the CSMB and school administration, nothing happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reception from the school was not good,\u201d he said, \u201cit has even been dismissive, accusing us of being against children, which is ridiculous. Maybe the solution is education, of civisme,\u201d he says, rejecting suggestions one resident was told, \u201cthat children need to scream to remain calm the rest of the day. That\u2019s middle-ages thinking!\u201d He said even his local city councillor was not aware of the expansion. <\/p>\n
\u201cI sympathize and I understand,\u201d said CSMB chair Diane Lamarche-Venne in an interview, adding some measures were already taken, including replacing bell ringing in the yard with whistles. \u201cIf parents cause problems on the street, we\u2019ll ask police to step in. But we still have to bring kids out,\u201d she said, confirming the number at \u201cjust under 600, and children like to shout and run.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lamarche-Venne confirmed the expansion, with several options examined from building downward to above the playground. \u201cThe need is obviously there and we have a budget from the ministry.\u201d She says she understand residents\u2019 frustration, and has been asking the borough for help in finding land to build a school. <\/p>\n
Little land left<\/b><\/p>\n
Chameran, known locally as Little Beirut, has a majority immigrant population and features clusters of older duplexes and single-family homes encircled by large high-rises and expansive block apartments, a highly and increasingly densified quarter with more lower income residents than elsewhere in the borough.<\/p>\n
Most of the CSMB\u2019s 14 St. Laurent schools have been enlarged, with several undergoing a second expansion. \u201cThe students at Henri Beaulieu are neighborhood kids,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are bussing children out of the area. We\u2019re doing our best but we don\u2019t control the number of kids in a family. If they have four, five or six, I still have to fulfill my obligations to educate them. For years we have been saying to the borough, if you build new houses, we need to build schools.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is little land left,\u201d says the board chair, \u201cbut we have to find it. It\u2019s not easy because the priority every time the borough approves an urban plan is green space. That leaves few options.\u201d <\/p>\n
Some residents lament what they see as the city\u2019s indifference to the growing need for schools. \u201cWe pay taxes to the city, our cost of living goes up and our quality of life goes down,\u201d says Dorget. \u201cYou can\u2019t keep increasing numbers of families and not have infrastructure.\u201d Dorget and his neighbours want a new school built to ease the pressure and dread the expansion. \u201cThe noise level is crazy. Now we are talking expansion. How many sardines can you fit into a can?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI sympathize,\u201d insists Lamarche-Venne.\u201d I really do. We are trying but I have nowhere else to put these children. I have been looking to the borough for help. I wish I had a partner there.\u201d
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School board wants borough\u2019s help By Joel Ceausuwww.thesuburban.com Residents near \u00c9cole Henri Beaulieu in St. Laurent\u2019s Chameran district have had it with increasing car traffic and noise from the schoolyard. \u201cIn 1993 it had 235 kids; that has more than doubled,\u201d resident Philippe Dorget told The Suburban. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge difference,\u201d he says, adding that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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