Photo: Christinne Muschi La Presse canadienne Le ministre de l’Éducation, Bernard Drainville, a annoncé mardi matin une aide de 2,4 millions de dollars sur trois ans pour ce collège, situé dans la MRC de La Côte-de-Beaupré.
Quebec grants a three-year reprieve to the Collège des Hauts Sommets, a specialized private school in Saint-Tite-des-Caps which came close to closing due to financial concerns.
The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, announced Tuesday morning aid of $2.4 million over three years for this college, located in the MRC of La Côte-de-Beaupré.
On site, the elected official recounted meetings with parents of students who emphasized that “college made THE difference” in their lives. “There are even parents who told me: college saved my child,” he emphasized.
In February, Le Devoirreported on a letter signed by 30 public figures, including former prime ministers Pauline Marois and Philippe Couillard, to demand that the Collège des Hauts Sommets remain active. The school accommodates 103 students, including 98 boarders. Almost all (96%) students have intervention plans, put in place to overcome academic challenges. Half (51%) arrive at this school academically behind; 15% to 20% have autism spectrum disorder.
The solution announced Tuesday does not resolve the college's longer-term funding issues. “We have three years ahead of us to find permanent solutions that will ensure the long-term survival of the establishment and I am confident that we will succeed. We have to get there. The children who come here deserve this. We will find a way,” assured Minister Drainville.
Since 2019, the Collège des Hauts Sommets has been demanding the status of a specialized school, and the funding that accompanies this status. However, he comes up against the administrative maze of the Ministry of Education. In other words: “it falls between the different little boxes that exist,” admitted Mr. Drainville. He was pleased to provide, for the moment, “a horizon which will take [the school] out of the emergency”.
The college director, Marc Charbonneau, was relieved. “We are both so close and so far from being able to sustain the mission. But in the coming months, we will be able to focus on this mission with peace of mind,” he stressed.