A JK to Grade 8 private school in Richmond is closing temporarily for one year after it was unable to extend its lease.
Pythagoras Academy announced the closure of its current location in an email from head of school Anne Yu to parents earlier this week.
"After extensive and very difficult negotiations with the landlord, the board has no choice now but to close the current school location down," reads the June 3 email obtained by the Richmond News.
Class will continue as scheduled until the last day of school year, June 18, after which school operations will be suspended for one year.
The email set out three solutions for affected students: the school is issuing full refunds for payments made for the 2024/25 school year, and it is contacting other schools and issuing reference letters to help students transition out of Pythagoras.
In response to the News' request for information, Yu confirmed the board of Pythagoras Academy is still in the process of finalizing future plans for the school.
In a follow-up email sent to parents on June 5, Yu explained the board had tried to explore the possibility of purchasing Pythagoras' current location on Odlin Crescent since the establishment of the school.
"Regrettably, it became apparent that our landlord was not inclined to entertain this idea," she wrote.
As an alternative, Pythagoras bought a potential school site in 2018 on No. 5 Road, also known as the "Highway to Heaven," Yu explained.
However, in November 2019, Richmond city council denied Pythagoras' application for non-farm use on the former Mylora Golf Course at 9500 No. 5 Rd. Highway to Heaven. The planning committee later voted in 2020 to prohibit future school use from the area, which is located in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).
Despite multiple meetings with the mayor, city councillors and planning staff to find an alternative site in Richmond, the board says it received "very limited" help.
"Faced with this challenge, we shifted our focus to the City of Vancouver," wrote Yu.
"While we are currently exploring a potential site in Vancouver, it will require one more year to prepare this alternative location for occupancy."
As such, the school will have to shut down for one year while the board finalizes future plans.
"We believe it is imperative not to wait until it is too late for our families and staff to explore alternative options," wrote Yu.
According to Yu, the board tried to extend the lease for its current location but received a one-year offer with "unacceptable conditions that were not tenable" including a 100 per cent increase in lease payments plus an extra $1.3 million deposit to the landlord.
With files from Maria Rantanen
Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected]. To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
