Trustees break $10M plan for London vocational school building’s future

Trustees on Tuesday night pressed pause on a Thames Valley District school board staff plan to relocate its adult continuing education students to B. Davison, the vocational school that’s set to close in London.

Trustees voted to defer any decisions about moving the program from GA Wheelable school to B. Davison until staff can put together a broader plan to create a learning center for high schoolers and adult learners.

“I believe that further work is required to flesh out the larger vision and goals of the proposed learning center before this motion can be approved,” one trustee, Marianne Larsen, said, adding the original plan “doesn’t meet the needs of all students.”

Instead, after in-depth debate, trustees asked for a more extensive proposal of the possibilities at B. Davison

What was originally proposed by staff would have meant relocating the adult, alternative and continuing education students from Wheable to Davison. Repurposing Davison, the longtime vocational school on Trafalgar Street, would cost roughly $10 to $12 million, said education director Mark Fisher.

As part of the plan, students who’d been attending B. Davison would return to their home schools at the end of this school year.

At a September board meeting, Thames Valley administration confirmed it had plans to change the way B. Davison is used as part of years-long process of “de-streaming” its system, which would result in students taking vocational courses at the high school in their own neighbourhood.

B. Davison was established in 2014 to teach students skills that will help them enter the workforce immediately after graduation. News of its looming shutdown irked community supporters who felt it offered students a unique experience.

With the change looming, there are just 37 students enrolled this year at B. Davison in Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses such as hospitality, welding, construction and auto mechanics – all intended to arm them with skills that will make them employable upon graduation.

The school is named for Janine Davison’s father. She has launched a petition urging the board to maintain its current role. On Tuesday, she said “kids’ and families’ voices were not respected and not given the attention they deserve.”

But B. Davison’s own principal, Rene Shave, called it a “dated and inequitable” model of education. Shave has previously said her students are capable of many more paths forward than the vocational school allows, including post-secondary education.

Many of them have been “underestimated in their abilities their entire lives,” Shave said.

Wheable is located on Jacqueline Street at Thompson Road in southeast London. It offers several programs for adults, including a high school diploma, English as a second language and upgrades to literacy or math skills.

The building is underused due to increased virtual and hybrid learning, school board officials say.

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