Parents have speculated about what will happen to school buildings if they're closed ever since the Vancouver School Board announced it may have to shut down schools to save money.

Last week, a couple parents told me some rumours they're hearing. One said she heard Macdonald elementary is being eyed for a kindergarten to Grade 12 Montessori school, while another heard Queen Alexandra on Broadway is being considered for the district's adult education centre on Terminal Avenue, which is now located in costly leased space. The lease expires at the end of 2011. The Montessori rumour was news to board chair Patti Bacchus.

"That's the first I've heard about Macdonald and Montessori, but the idea of using Queen Alex for adult ed has been discussed for a few years--even before I was on the board," she said in an email, adding the board currently leases space on Terminal Avenue for approximately $500,000 per year for the Main Street Education centre, "and we would really like not to be spending that on facilities. The closure process must include an open and informed discussion about possible options and these would be the kind of options that we would like to hear more about from communities."

As I've mentioned in previous education stories, the francophone education authority is looking for a West Side site, which may partly explain why two West Side schools landed on the VSB's preliminary notification list for possible closure.

But exactly what will happen with any empty school building remains uncertain.

The board already has several properties that aren't being used as public schools. It owns Kingsgate Mall at Main and Kingsway, which has a 99-year lease with the Beedie Group with about 60 years left. The mall site housed an elementary, but that school closed decades ago.

The board also owns Shannon Park annex, which shut down several years ago due to low enrolment. The building is leased to the Vancouver Hebrew Academy.

The Anne-Hebert elementary property, meanwhile, was involved in a land swap arranged in 2008, in which the property was to be transferred to the Conseil Scolaire Francophone no later than 2010 at fair market value to raise capital to complete the new schools at UBC. The board also leases space on a property at 5987 Prince Albert St. to the Khalsa school. It's been leased by the Satnam Education Society of B.C. since the early 1990s.

School boards can't sell schools without provincial government approval. The government revised its policy a few years ago, limiting the sale of schools to exceptional circumstances in order to preserve the capital asset base.

noconnor@vancourier.com